The Second Coming of Supernatural
by ITalkToSky
Summary: Lunaire, a magician turned Youkai, who moved to Gensokyo to avoid his family suddenly found himself thrusted back into the world, along with other residents of the Eastern Wonderland. What will he do? The world he once knew has changed in the way he didn't expect. Instead of being mere folklores, magic became a widespread skills. But something felt different from normal magic.
1. Chapter 1: Normal Days Plus

Hello, ITalkToSky here

Before you read anything else, please know that I have some problem with grammar as I am not a native speaker and hated writing. Studied English for a long time to understand academic papers, but still not very confident in my writing. Let's be honest, I am not a very good writer, so please bear with me.

I really love Touhou and also Mahouka a lot, so I decided to write this fanfiction with my own OC added to it. OC will be kind of OP to a certain extent, but hey, Tatsuya is a hax in his own ways.

This will NOT be a harem fic. Although there will be multiple love interests, I will keep the number low and most will not be actively pursuing him to the extent of being a nuisance. Before I say any further, MiyukiXOC ship has been sunk. I pulled the trigger. *bam* *bam* the ship was sunk. Done.

Both Touhou project and Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei belong to their rightful owner. Only my OC is my actual idea.

00000

"What is going on?!" A young man, seemingly at the end of his teenage years, exclaimed. His eyes were wide as if he had seen a ghost. Actually this idiom couldn't be use anyway; he had already met Yuyuko and Youmu.

What he felt when he burst out of the side entrance of Scarlet Devil Mansion side entrance that connected the garden to Viole magic library shocked him. His hand grasped as his cloth around his chest. He definitely felt it. After that strange flash of light, something changed in the surrounding. It felt faint from inside the mansion, but he felt it clearly when he went out. The concentration of mana in the atmosphere dropped very low. Nowhere in Gensokyou should have that low level of magic power.

The sense of foreboding forced him to fly up into the sky and then the scenery he took in rebuked his sense of reality, or what was left of it after he learned magic. Instead of a huge misty lake in front of the mansion, a huge expansive forest stretched. The mansion itself seemed to be nested in a valley of some sort, but such location does not exist in Gensokyou. All if it did not seem like illusion. His mind began to turn.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

Bright light shone through the window as the curtain slowly pulled open without any apparent mean to do so. All one could hear was a small hum from a small wooden device with various runes etched onto it and the rustling of the thick teal colored curtain. After a few seconds, the room was filled with silence. Then the figure on the bed stirred slightly. It rolled on to its back, straightening it and gently sat up. With eyes closed, two arms were raised into a stretch accompanied by a soft comfortable yawn.

The figure appeared human with features that were almost androgynous. The small frame and thin limbs cladded in light blue pajamas were complemented nicely with mid-back length hair. At first glance, the hair seemed to be bleached white, but upon close inspection, it shimmered slightly in the morning light as if the strands were metallic. The skin lightly concealed by the cloth was flawless white, but unlike corpses still retains its healthy tinges.

After waking up the muscles, the figure pulled itself away from the fluffy blanket on to the wooden floor and proceeded to carry itself to the bathroom. In front of the mirror, the eyes flashed open, revealed a pair of deep sky blue irises. However, this pairs of eyes were peculiar in that their color was not one solid color. The blue irises contained a periwinkle glows that slightly shimmered and shifted slightly depending on the angle, appearing almost prismatic. The facial structure showed slight hint of pout, but nonetheless would strike the beholder as being beautiful. The figure proceeded with his morning routine.

* * *

His name is Lunaire Vivian Meister. Formerly a human magic use hailing from the famed Meister family in England, he delved deep into magic, growing more and more powerful. At the end of his study in England, he rediscovered the fabled and considered long lost "abandon food" magic, gaining the status as a member of the Youkai Magician race. The magic community did not take the news likely and the furious race for an engagement commenced between the most prominent magic families. With the magic growing weaker and weaker, the modern magic users struggled to maintain a pure bloodline to ensure that the magic users down the line would continue to have magic. Magic users who awaken as a member of Youkai Magician numbered a few and every one of them were old, so it is obvious how such news would be received. Unable to resign himself to being nothing but a breed stock, with the help of his old butler and at the tender age of 19, he gather his researches and booked flight to Japan, never to return. Obviously, his family had plan for him and sent the pursuit party, ironically led by his favorite elder sister. His butler lost his life protecting his master when the group was intercepted just on the outskirt of Kyoto. Although as a silver lining, his family underestimated the power of a Youkai magician by sending the squad too small with too little elites, allowing Lunaire to wipe the floor with them. After various happenings, he was offered a place in Gensokyo by none other than Yakumo Yukari herself. Without lingering feeling, except grudge against the Meister family that is responsible for the death of his father-figure whom he owed his life, Lunaire set out to Gensokyo. The stories of what entailed was for another time, but he settled himself temporarily as live-in magician in Scarlet Devil Mansion. Although he considered it temporary at first, he stayed there and integrated almost seamlessly into Scarlet household already. Occupying one of the guest rooms upstairs, Remilia allowed him to utilize part of her library and underground labyrinth as his laboratory. It was only a matter of few years before he gave up moving out.

* * *

After a proper bath, Lunaire began to put on his outfit. In the evening he had to go the village for some materials for his experiment, so the one that blended in would be better. He took an example of his outfit from Morichika Rinnosuke with few minor differences. The outfit main color scheme remained the same, but the white was replaced with very pale Alice blue and the sleeves were colored royal blue. The sash that held the outfit together had a metal plate the size of a palm, etched with stars inscribed within in each other, pentagram, hexagram and heptagram in order, embed within. In addition, this outfit was enchanted to the very limit the special fabric could take. He also wore a necklace with small and unadorned deep blue crystal.

After getting dressed up, he gathered and tied his hair into a ponytail and leaving a few bangs to fall to the sides of his face and one right between his eyes. With all the preparation set, he reached into his drawer for his standard equipment, personal grimoire and a handful of spell cards. Tucking some into small pocket in his sleeves and the rest in the pocket dimension, he turned open to door and walked down the empty corridor of Scarlet Devil Mansion. It was a strange morning. He felt that something was different. Most residents of this mansion are not active during the day, except for Meiling and Sakuya. However, the mansion today felt a little bit more…lively.

The fairy maids floated around doing almost nothing productive as always. Even though they always searched for something to humor themselves and were very noisy, they shouldn't be in the morning. Just like most residents here, they were not morning…fairies? Yet, for some reasons, they seemed energetic.

Deciding that minding fairies business will not get anything for him, he decided to carry on his way. Looking out the window, he saw that it was quite early and decided to head toward the library. The sun was quite high in the sky, but it was a bit too early for Sakuya to prepare his breakfast, well more accurately brunch. Living for a decade or so with nocturnal people tended to mess with his biological clock.

Lunaire narrowed his eyes comfortably as his muffled footsteps as he navigated the hallways seemed to lull him to a certain sense of security. When his feet carried him to the library, he was shocked.

"Wait, wait, wait! Stop! I am here with Alice, da ze! Not here for the books…not now…" The blond in generic witch outfit strength her arms in front of her and franticly waved.

The blond witch was Kirisame Marisa, a very frequent book burglar who arbitrary invited herself in and took many books from this library countless of time. Often to the exasperation of Patchouli, our resident librarian of the Viole Grand Magic Library, wards and barriers serve no purpose to deter Marisa. She simply broke in boldly, shattering all the magic defenses in the way before bugging out as quickly as she came. The only way effective was to intercept her in person, but with Patchouli health problems and somewhat slacking guard, Meiling, Marisa had almost free-reign in the library without the support from Sakuya. When he appeared, he took up the role to properly intercept the Marisa if he came across her, which usually ended up in a spectacular danmaku duel or Sakuya and him chasing her through the premise. Good times.

"Alice? Ah, she is here for the doll's sword." Lunaire graciously decided to ignore the latter part of her comment.

"Yes, yes!" She replied lazily and followed him as he headed for the center of the library.

Flicking his right wrist to the side a little bit before making a gesture to grab something, Lunaire's seemed to disappear into a small black hole. A second later, his hand emerged to reveal a neat wooden box that was properly bound with rope. The box has small pentagram inscribed into the lid.

The pair continued in awkward silence as no one was able to strike a conversation. Lunaire found it extremely awkward to start talking to someone who he always chases around all the time on sight. However, he also found it relaxing not to do so, especially not in the morning when he felt fresh.

* * *

What greeted his sight were the figures of Remilia and Alice entertaining their morning teatime with some snacks prepared by Sakuya. It was very strange to see her up in the morning. Boredom might be a factor that forced her to jump at any source of excitement in sight it seemed, enough to make her wake up early. And of course, if Sakuya is not up when her mistress is up, then that Sakuya is an imposter. No question asked.

"Good morning, Alice, Remillia and Patchouli too. Thank you for your efforts, Sakuya." He lightly greeted every members presented.

"It's nothing." Sakuya bowed almost exactly 45 degrees. It seemed that no one can find fault with this perfect maid.

Lunaire looked around and found someone who he least expected in this Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Reisen? Hello? Um, why are you here?" He asked curiously as frowns appeared on his face. This was not due to his dislike for Reisen, but for other reason. Desperately trying to maintain a stoic face, his left hand grabbed onto his right in a vice like grip, while the right hand itself twitched. Lunaire was a fan of animal-eared girls, courtesy to Ran's tails. He could never forgot that warmth and softness. Snapping out of his daze, he refocused on Reisen.

"I believe you order some medicine, so master asked me to deliver it. Don't you remember it?" Reisen tilted her head before bringing a box in her bag forward.

"Oh, yes! Thanks. Completely forgot about it." He rubbed his head embarrassingly.

Many of his experiments involve medicines from Eirin so he always tries to keep some in stock by occasionally ordered some to be delivered to Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Talking about delivery, here is the sword you asked for your doll. I enchanted it to increase it durability, sharpness and also added in ability to cut through barriers. Not going lie, but that thing is pretty powerful, considering that it is a weapon meant for your doll. Like you ordered, it is also capable of being a proper magic conductor for normal magic. Since you meant to use this as a weapon of last resort for Shanghai, I added in wind magic circuit integrated in for increased mobility and ability to fire simple vacuum blades for good measure. For free of course." Lunaire began his explanation for the item in a wooden box no larger than shoebox in his hand. Alice's face brightened as a smile graced her face. She thanked him before unboxing the item. She seemed to like what she saw.

The blade was like a miniature rapier. The golden spiral hand guard was sparking from sporadic decorative jewels. Most of the jewels are green and blue. The hilt was wrapped with dark blue cloth. The scabbard was also dark blue, but trimmed with gold alloy and decorated with silver cross motifs. Alice manipulated Shanghai, a doll that frequently hangs around her, to pull out the rapier, revealed a flawless silver narrow blade, which seemed to glimmer slightly.

Reisen and Marisa watched interestingly as Alice began to make Shanghai do some advance sword maneuvers that were both graceful and deadly. Remilia seemed exited as always to see something new, while her maid watched over her warmly. The resident bookworm though, showed almost on interest in the show.

Before the atmosphere can get merrier though, Lunaire hissed as everyone looked more alerted. The feeling in the air somehow managed to suddenly appear and spooked every breathing soul in this room. It seemed almost alien, but unquestionably felt like magic.

"Everyone, get…" With his word cut off, the world was colored in white.

0000000000

That's it, all I'm going to write for a prologue.

Hope you like what you read and I apologize for the lack of Mahouka action in this chapter.


	2. Chapter 2: Full Alert

Hello, ITalkToSky here

Here comes the setup of the story. I also have a question for you at the end of this chapter.

 _ **I hereby call for a poll. Muwahahaha**_ (at the end)

The racial trait of Youkai Magician will be elaborate and expanded upon in this story, but not necessary in this chapters or the next though.

I also might tamper with a little bit with the timeline of Gensokyo in order to provide a proper background.

Both Touhou project and Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei belong to their rightful owner. Only my OC is my actual idea.

00000

 _ **Back to the present**_

Hovering above the Scarlet Devil Mansion with wide eyes, Lunaire spun around as his mind was overclocked. His frown deepened with every passing moments. He raised his hand to his face and squeezed his temple strongly. He slightly tapped his feet on the imaginary foothold midair and slowly climbed the altitude. Slowly decelerating to a stop, he froze.

Scarlet Devil Mansion was tucked away in the valley and woods of some sort. Nicely hidden away with great atmosphere to boot, but Lunaire knew that was not the most important part. What caught his attention was what far beyond the little valley they popped into. He could never forget those white rectangular objects that stood tall and pieces the heaven. Its surface reflected the light of the morning sun. Buildings, very tall building that seemed to be made out completely of windows. That was definitely not Gensokyo, even Kappas don't have the technology to start constructing this, but they are getting close.

"Scry" Lunaire demanded as both his vision and hearing were projected straight into the city. The first thing that came to his mind was Japanese. The language that he had spent the last century using in the land of fantasy, although what he heard was contained some differences. It was within his expectation for Japanese to change over the course of a century, but this would definitely spell his trouble if he could not gather information due to linguistic differences.

"Hey do you want to go to the movie? It is only a few stations from here."

"I can't I have Mirage Bat club practice today. I am sorry I can't go."

"Oh right, nine school competition is close, isn't it."

"Mirage Bat? Nine school competition?" The silver hair Youkai Magician was not familiar with the terms. Before he could think any further though, he saw many more figures that flew toward him from the mansion.

"What is happening? I saw a flash and…this!" Marisa bellowed, before taking in the scenery.

Alice was more collected, but appeared just as shock as the others that followed. Patchouli though, in addition to being confused, wore a silent expression of delight with more things to satisfy her curiosity.

'It might be sad to tell her that there is nothing magical out here' was what Lunaire though, but he did not know how soon it would be for him to understand how wrong he was.

"Let's get back into the mansion. We are out in the open here and I don't want to get caught off guard. We need to think up a plan." He said with hushed tone even though there was nobody out there to eavesdrop on them.

"Wait Lunaire! Hold on! What is happening out…" Marisa held up her hands to stop Lunaire, but he responded with the most serious expression he could muster.

"I will explain in the mansion. I don't know how we got here, but if this is where I suspect we are, and then we have some serious problem on hand." It was a serious expression indeed as the weight of a century of life was not something to be joked about. Lunaire then turned away before speeding toward the mansion.

* * *

"Hmm" A man on the reclining office seat trained his eyes on one of the monitor. It seemed that the psionic sensor had detected someone using magic in the city proper. He snorted, thinking that the some of the fools from magic high school probably found some trouble. However, a quick glance at the security camera in the vicinity showed no sign of any fighting

Considering the small magnitude of magic, probably the investigation wouldn't be needed. Most of the time if there is not an open magic assault right in the middle of the city, then the case is probably not significant. Many magicians lately seemed to fancy running around with some magic. Although the magnitude of the psion detected by the sensor was quite small, the psion patterns that are unique to each person were still recorded. The man slowly reclined back into his seat after he verified to automated activity log, not noticing anything about the data recorded.

* * *

Before they went into the mansion, Lunaire asked Sakuya to go and fetch Meiling, while Patchouli was asked to bring in Koakuma. After the two left, he ushered the rest into the library, but before anyone could say anything, he quickly chanted a few words of power. The rest looked at him curiously, before going on their way, when he explained that he restrained Cirno and Daiyousei that was loitering about the premise.

Lunaire closed his eyes for a bit before noticing an existence of a being flying down to his side. Inside, he thought that this person was the last person they needed in this situation, Shameimaru Aya. However, thankfully, she wore a very serious expression. As expect of Youkai with the greatest seniority, she knew when something important happened.

After a short break, everyone was gathered in the library, except for the fairy maids and the little intruders he just apprehended. Lunaire brought Aya into the meeting under the surprise of many and quickly explained her reason of being in Scarlet Devil Mansion when thing went down. The atmosphere was heavy as everyone seemed to try and force out an answer from Lunaire with their eyes.

"I want an explanation." Unexpectedly, it was Alice who started the conversation. Lunaire found it very unexpected, but sighed as this explanation would be a long one.

"I don't know how, but that flash brought us…out." He paused trying to arrange his thought. The expression on his face appeared calm, but it was his hands fidgeting about slightly that betrayed his anxiousness.

"What do you mean out?" Alice pressed. Everyone stared at the silver haired boy for elaboration. Patchouli laid her book on her table, while Marisa leaned in closer. Sakuya appeared undisturbed as always and as expected of Remilia, her face was glowing with the overwhelming excitement. Lunaire wondered what could make this lady feel anxious, save for her sister. Reisen only moved closer, but she wore a tight expression, as expected of a former soldier of the moon.

"Outside the barrier, the outside world, the place beyond Gensokyo or whatever you want to call it. The place has change, but almost a century has passed since I left to Gensokyo. I am sure, because this suffocating low level of ambient mana is what didn't change." Lunaire grimaced as he began to grow more convinced that they somehow slipped out of the Hakurei barrier, along with Scarlet Devil Mansion, into the world a century after he left it. This would bring a lot of troubles for the people of Gensokyo to suddenly appear.

Lunaire decided that these people deserved to know everything, which would also be much more convenient that withholding information. The story of his escape to Gensokyo and the world back before he departed was told under the curious gazes, mixed with some anxious ones. When he started, everything started to pour out. Nobody had ever heard of his story before, so everyone attentively listen till the end. He recounted the secrecy of magic, disbelief in supernatural and the technologies the human of the outside world possessed.

"You are completely sure?" Alice asked with her eyes still wide from the otherworldly account of the outside words. Her right hand grasped tightly to her left wrist said a lot about her anxiousness.

The rest were so different. Their expressions range from anxious, mild surprise to neutral. The only two that differed were Marisa who wore and unreadable still face and Remilia who was practically glowing with overwhelming enthusiasm. Aya seemed to be pondering something as he frown deepened. Lunaire silently thought that it was rare for Aya to be so serious and not make someone angry by being a nuisance.

After a moment of stuffy silence, they started to look among each other, silently praying that one of them will have the brightest solution for their dilemma. However, no one said anything. Lunaire rubbed his temple and sigh.

"With us not knowing the way to return, we must make do with what we have and live. That is our number one priority. As for how exactly are we going to do that, first we need to be able to feed for ourselves. Although I would like to say that it is looking good as Alice, Patchouli and I won't need food as we are Youkai magician, but I can't because we have tons of fairy maids and others to feed. I have a solution for that, though we all need to work together in this." He paused a little and stared at everyone face. What he received was a tentative nod from each of them.

To solve their food issues, Lunaire asked Patchouli to research up any books relating to edible plants, including how to properly grow them, and then instructed Meiling to start constructing the temporary farm within the vicinity. As for meat diet, hunting will be occasionally assigned to Sakuya. Although protesting about how she wanted to hunt, Marisa backed down after Lunaire explained that they want meat not a blob of charcoal.

"Second, we need to keep our existence secret. A hundred years has passed, so I don't know what could be waiting us out here. If they don't know us, they can't hit us. If the situation calls for it, we will need the approval of most of us before disclosing the information of our existences to anyone, most likely our future collaborators." Lunaire continued as if he was lecturing his students in a university. By being the only one who have the barest hint of idea about the outer world, outdated as it was, he viewed that he at least have the obligation to raise their chance of survival. In other word, he was afraid of the regret that would haunt him if he lost someone when he could have saved them with what he knew.

After the discussion about modern weaponry a century ago on Earth, everyone came to a conclusion that although it is almost useless in direct confrontation as almost everyone could erect a barrier to defend, but that is not the case if caught off guard. The consensus on the topic of confrontation therefore was to avoid the fight until the group can get their bearing straight, including the confirmation about the destructive power of current weaponry. Even then, everyone was advised to only fight to protect themselves and people in the group. Lunaire offered to issue a magic stun grenade he invented to them later.

Many gasped when he proposed that the spell card rules be dropped for every confrontation, except for duel between Gensokyo resident. It seemed that they had lived many years with spell card rules that the idea of dropping it never crosses their minds. He could not blame them, spell card rules was a magnificent rules, but when life was on the line, the group will need everything in their arsenal to prepare of the unknown.

"Finally, we need to gather information. As I said, I don't know anything specific about the world right now. In the situation like this, those who know more can stay a few steps ahead and that might be what keeping us safe."

"Let me…" Aya started, but I cut her off.

"I will go. I probably understand the people better; after all I sought refuge here in Japan for a while after all. I will be the one doing the preliminary scouting. Don't worry about me, just hold the fort. Please trust me on this. After I get something, we will then be able to go on to step 2. My plan right now is to retrieve whatever I left here when I went to Gensokyo, sell them to get the funds we need for further operation."

"It will be a rough task." The Tengu's tone was stern.

"I can handle myself, but Thank you. Patchouli, can you help me with the transmutation?"

"Transmutation?" She asked in a slightly confused tone. The corner of his lips rose slightly as Lunaire grinned, before beckoning Patchouli to join him and then began walking out of the library.

0000

Uh oh, their cover is a little bit blown.

I have a question for all you reader and ask for you to give me your vote. Who do you think should go the First High and how many?

Before you answer, I want to tell you that all Touhou characters that came from Gensokyo won't be available as choices. You have to consider their appearance. Reisen with her rabbit ears and tail won't cut it. I mean sure you could use magic, but Tatsuya is going to notice it. Even if it is magic from different system and his elemental sight might not be best for the job, he will suspect something. Also it is over when someone decides to pat her head.

This is the list of all characters that are in play from Touhou side plus OC. Mind you this is the first set of cast. Depending on how the situation plays out, I will bring in more, but don't expect that in the near future. I don't like cluttering a story by trying to bring everything and everyone one into the story without making it develop properly.

OC

Remillia

Flandre

Sakuya

Patchouli

Koakuma

Meiling

Marisa

Alice

Reisen

Cirno

Daiyousei

Aya

From this list the one that can definitely appear are…

OC

Sakuya (Though will she leave her mistress…)

Patchouli

Koakuma

Meiling

Marisa

Alice

This does mean that everyone will have to appear in school. Preparing the documents for huge amount of people who randomly pop into existence will be quite a pain for our OC, even if he knows the process, his knowledge is outdated.


	3. Chapter 3: Recon Preparation

Hello again, ITalkToSky here

I am on fire today.

 _ **Notice: Thought for somewhat will be represent by '…..'**_

 _ **Also, rejoice, I ask for some opinion.**_

I am always looking forward to constructive criticism so please leave a review. Thank you.

Now, onward to the fiction!

00000

Lunaire led Patchouli along the convoluted hallway of the mansion. Swiping his right hand as if to strike something in front of him and then bringing hand up to snap his fingers, Lunaire's vision darken and a pulse of white energy radiated out. To others it might seem as if nothing actually happen save for some empty theatric stunt, but to one experienced in magic arts like Patchouli, she felt a ping of energy radiated out from his body.

He did not mind Patchouli raising her eyebrows a little and moved on to open the one of the windows the lined up the corridor. A few seconds later, a couple of small objects flew in. Making no effort to catch and carry them manually, he spread his hand and the rocks gathered a few centimeters above his pale digits. Most of the rocks were the size of pebble and some were slightly dirty, so in a moment, he cleaned them with basic water element chant. In response to his short chant, the rocks were surrounded by water and began to spin around. After he was satisfied, he let the water free from his magic and dumped it out the window. A moment later he was slightly worried if there was someone below.

'I will grow old a little bit too quickly if I mind too much.' He mused inwardly in reckless abandon. Although he realized the irony that he would not grow older even if he wanted to for any foreseeable future, he jammed the rocks into a small pocket dimension and soldiers on toward the basement of the mansion.

Pushed the old wooden door open, he teased Patchouli by making a hand gesture as if inviting her in like a gentleman, but his eyes betrayed his amusement. Even for Patchouli who is a shut in, it was clear as day for her, so she huffed as she entered. She knew where his laboratory was, so she decided to just stomp her way forward, trying to leave him behind.

"Sorry." He chuckled lightly before admitted for the teasing apologetically. Patchouli never likes formality, so of course a tease like that would annoy her. But it was not as if Lunaire did not see fuming Patchouli as cute.

Deciding that his entertainment came later in the situation they were in, he followed her into one of the rooms in the labyrinth that was renovated into his thaumatology laboratory.

"I am sorry Patchouli; I still have not returned some of the books. I think I still need it for a bit so please bear with me." Lunaire apologized when he realized that the other magician was eyeing the collection of his book.

"As long as it is in good shape…" Patchouli answered softly. She did not mind all that much, because unlike books "borrowed" by Marisa, she could always come to take it back later.

His laboratory looked like a dungeon. The wall was lined with neat grey bricks, but unlike stereotypical dungeon, there were no moss or any dampness. Floors, wall and other furniture were kept surprisingly clean for an underground room.

Over to one side of the room, a very large and tall elegant bookcase covered the entire wall. Lined on each shelves were books of different size, age and topic. The selection greatly showed the eclectic nature of his study. Some of the books were taken from the grand magic library above, but most of them were either taken from outside when he migrated here or written by Lunaire himself. On this shelf, it was where he kept most of his grimoire. Of course, he casted a high rank preservation spell on it.

On the other side of the room long wooden writing tables, lined with ink wells and fountain pens. On one corner was a stack of fresh parchment and varying size of leathers in the case he would like to bind a new book. Various types of ink were close by just in case he decides to get a little bit creative with the binding design. Lunaire prefers black colored cover with golden letters, while insisting to write either in emerald or black ink. The other side of the table was two drawer cabinets, one has its drawers divided into sections large enough for typical paper and the other one was divided into many sections of 5 by 5 centimeters boxes. He stores many of the consumables items he invented in those boxes with appropriate label.

The last long table in the room is made a lab table. Prepped with magic furnace, alembic, enchanting tables and other magic related apparatus, it is where he conducted alchemical potion creation, item creation and enchantment. As for magic research and testing, he either does it on the writing table or the testing room enchanted to the max with defense magic next door.

Placed around the room are various different of devices such as air purifier, which regulates temperature, humidity and also filters out other dust and unpleasant smells. On the ceiling is his favorite reading lantern. Its bright orange flame inside produced inside brightly illuminated the room. Although it was colored like normal flame, no ordinary fire will float in a glass bottle like lamp like a trapped will'o' the wisp.

Patchouli simply walked in and took a seat in one of the chair available, staring intently at Lunaire for his reason to bring her here.

"We will need money out there and I think that gold is still an essential part of their economy. Can I ask you to provide me with philosopher's stone as a catalyst to turn these puppies into some shiny gold?" Lunaire gestured at the table and a small black gap appeared to spew out varying size of rock he collected earlier.

"Transmute gold…with your power then there is no need." Seemingly unconvinced, Patchouli inquired as she began to look down at the book she always had on her body to read.

"Sure, that is easy if it is a pure substance, like iron or silver ingots. But these rocks are not a single element so I can't transmute them, not without exhausting and knocking myself out if it is this much." He patiently explained and hoped that Patchouli would lend her hand. Although he could produce some himself, he was awfully inefficient at doing so as he specialized on other fields of knowledge at the expense of some.

"Fine."

"Yippee!" Acting completely like a goofball, Lunaire flashed the most childish smile like most children would have done when given something he liked and began working immediately.

* * *

With a satisfied smirk, he nodded at the pile of dazzling gold ingots. This should fetch them a hefty fund for their first operation. Although he was not sure of the living standard of the people in this era, this amount of gold will allowed him to purchase some outfit and other necessity. More importantly though was their identities. Lunaire was not sure how long they would stay here, so it would be better if they have access to the information and facilities like the citizen of this country. By making them a part of the systems, it would eliminate the need to go undercover and also open up some options that might not be available otherwise. Even if he was not sure of the documents required, he was confident that there might be someone who know and could fabricate up some kind of identifications.

Actually though, he realized that simply registering as immigrant and then bribing someone with enough authority would do the job too. The catch would be whether they would accept someone with no previous records anywhere in the world and seemingly pop into existence, but there is almost nothing that money couldn't solve. But first he needed to know the procedure first, so the first objective was to find the informant or information broker that will kindly impart knowledge and maintain confidentiality.

Even if Lunaire did not want to deal with the underworld, he had to concede on this one as the only way to sell this huge amount of gold and obtain information without raising any suspicion was through this route. Money and information were the keys for them to be able to live in this world, both temporary or permanently if they could not return to Gensokyo.

It was probably time for him to break out his old suit. Scratching his head in front of the dresser, not sure whether the style of the suit would drastically change over a century, he grudgingly put in on while hoping that he did not look completely stupid outside.

Returning from his room upstairs, Lunaire went to another room close to his lab to arm himself and now had to figure how to cramp all these gadgets into his outfit. Putting several of his magic smoke grenades into his pocket and some spell card into another, he inspected whether if the slight bulge looked suspicious.

Magic smoke grenades, as unoriginal as it may sound, looks more like a sealed reinforced glass vial with another vial inside. Inside the smaller vial is a white crystalline powder, surrounded by the pale blue liquid in the bigger vial. The lid sealed both the smaller and the bigger vial, giving the appearance that the smaller vial is suspended from the lid. On top of the lid is a screw like mechanism that connected the little vial to the lid. Screwing the safety off the pressed at the protrusion sticking out, the small vial will be released into the blue liquid. The white powder was a mixture light interference catalyst and tiny bit of blast catalyst, while the liquid is the Aqua Magia.

Through the revolutionary technique that Lunaire developed, it is now possible to seal magic power into water, making it slightly bluer tinted in its base form, but can be tinted to other color depending on the element. The mana stored in the liquid can be released in many different ways to different effect, while the water evaporated.

When the light interference catalyst mix with the Aqua Magia, the catalyst awaken the dormant power in a way that bends the light passing through the mixture in a very radical way. Blast catalyst is tailored to only activate when in contact with air, converted mana in Aqua Magia to create small expansion of air. When the mixed content of the vials is exposed to the air by throwing and breaking the vessel, the blast catalyst activated and spread a mist of optically activated liquid. This creates a screen that completely distorts the light and renders visual aiming completely useless.

However, even if it is meant to be used as smoke screen, enveloping someone in the mist can throw of their sense of vision as their environment won't transmit light properly. They might be seeing the back of their head in one eye and seeing their legs in the other eye, very terrifying indeed.

Although it does not sound like a smoke screen, it was supposed to, but was altered. Now a more fitting name would be diffraction screen.

Back to the main point, the size of this type of grenade is quite small, so quite a few can fit in a pocket.

As this mission would be non-lethal only, the screen would allow him to distract and bail out very easily in most situations. In most desperate situation when he was forced into an open fight, he could use his spell card to saturate the area with high density barrage before pulling out.

* * *

With the most obvious necessity out of the way, Lunaire started considering a mean for him to defend and repel against an assault involving few amount of combatants. Although his physical body could be greatly enchanted, a weapon may be used for intimidation, decision, decision.

As most of his magic tools are quite eye-catching considering modern standard, his mind started overclocking. He couldn't exactly pull out a katana right in the middle of the city. Well, katana is lethal, so maybe a gun with enchanted rubber bullet…but carrying a gun in the middle of the town is like answer to be caught by a police. The frown on his head depended and he scratched his chin.

Walking from larger weapons to the section containing smaller non-firearm weapons, he glanced around and realized that for some reason he really preferred blade weapon. On the shelf, gleaming daggers, wakizashi, stiletto and many other different types of short blade were behind a protective barrier. Lunaire eyed one wakizashi. The hilt and the scabbard were colored in a matching lilac. The tsuba was styled in oval shaped frame surrounding a rectangle. It was a simple blade that he had not yet named. Specialized in high speed combat and assassination, the wakizashi was heavily enchanted with controllable lighten spell with the add-on ability to manipulate air current. Lunaire was somehow convinced that he would need it and took it room the rack. Yep, he really liked bladed weapons.

Back to his original objective, Lunaire managed to find an enchanted baton, buried somewhere in the chests where he kept the rest of his creation. It was enchanted for increase durability and decreased weight. The baton was retractable and had the ability to conduct magic.

"Not too shabby. Guess it will have to do," was what Lunaire muttered as he left through the door and ascended the stairway to the ground level of the mansion.

* * *

He greeted everyone shortly and gave the brief instruction on how to deal with the fairies. Most agreed that Sakuya would not suffice as not only she had to serve her mistress, she also held a critical role in the management of the supply. Daiyousei was nice coaxed into acting like a secondary overseer to the fairies.

Aya grudgingly agreed to keep a look out on the perimeter with the help of Reisen, keeping the people out and also the fairy in, while Alice and Marisa helped to set up a more permanent concealing barrier.

Lunaire implored Remilia to stay put. That alone did not work as he had to bribe her with something interesting that he might find in the outside world. He thanked god as they did not need any more disaster waiting to happen.

The sun had set, so had to hurry. He needed to cover of night to stay as concealed as possible. The tip of his feet impacted the ground likely and with magic, propelled Lunaire into the air. Stabilizing his posture, he glided at high speed like a sparrow toward the brightly shining city, still known with the same name as when he left, Tokyo.

00000

How was that? Please leave some review :P

Although I dragged on for a bit, for all of you who craved for some Mahouka action, it is coming right up.

Now, _**question time!**_

 _ **Do you want to have some meeting with some characters before going to First High, with whom and why?**_

Please, I crave for some idea that people will like. I have a rough idea, but I really haven't written the fine print yet.

Thank you, ITalkToSky out.


	4. Chapter 4: Chanced Meeting

Hello, ITalkToSky here

I have almost nothing to say now, except asking the same question as before. Almost no body answer me so this lonely author is very sad T_T

 _ **The questions are:**_

 _ **Who of the Touhou cast do you want to have going to the First High?**_

 _ **Do you want to have some meeting with some characters before going to First High, with whom and why?**_ (aside from some in this chapter)

00000

"Now this is a problem…" A young man mused and ungracefully flopped down on his table. A series of unintelligible groan escaped his lips. It was a rather pitiful sight to behold.

Lunaire was stuck. The time in Gensokyo and in the outside world passed at the same rate. He spent 93 seasons in Gensokyo and now had in year 2092.

* * *

A few days earlier, the information broker looked at him like an imbecile for asking about the year and magic. At least the man maintained a professional approach enough to not mock him right there in his face. Although the information he bought from the man was priceless, Lunaire could not help but feel embarrassed. The deal with the black market for the gold was quite delicious, so Lunaire gave the brokers some more for his trouble.

Over the course of the next few days, he ran around like a sneaky mouse fabricating various documents and forged identity for him and the other that could afford to appear in public. The trip took him many trip back and forth between the city and the mansion. The first trouble for him he faced was the digital camera and computer. It took him a few hours to figure out, which sticks into which.

Another was getting everyone in front of the camera. Other than a little reaction to the camera, everything was easily dealt with, except when Cirno decided to strike. With the exception of Flandre and the fairies, everyone can appear in public if they hide their wings or what not, so it was decided that most would get their identities forged. Cirno, feeling left out, decided to try and freeze the flashy thing. It did not work of course with the zeal that Lunaire showed in defending it, wouldn't want the thing to break after the effort he put in after all.

* * *

Fast forward a few days, the e-bank accounts were all set up. Noted though was that the light feeling in his pocket, figuratively in that he had little left by the end of the deals with the underworld and literally for the rest are somehow "online", bugged Lunaire quite significantly. The sum left was still significant, but the lost made him wanted to nurse his poor wallet.

Sitting up straight when he received a tape he received form the waitress. He gave her a thank and a little smile as she served him the cake and tea he ordered. After he eyed the mountain of shopping bags beside his seat accusingly, he started to savor the taste he had not taste in the last 90 years. Although he could have made it in Gensokyo, there was no vanilla. The waitress smiled at his expression of pure bliss before leaving. He felt himself being a little bit overly-dramatic these days.

"Ano. Is the seat available?" A cheerful voice snapped him out of his reverie and almost choked him with the cake he was eating. Lunaire looked up slightly and almost said "children," the same way he had been addressing young people at the human village. It might be because of his mental age talking. He was after all, over a century old.

"No, it is fine. I will be out soon." Lunaire answered cordially.

He glanced across the café and realized just exactly where he was. The café in the mall was nicely decorated with shiny lacquered furniture. Almost all light came from the large window at the store front, while the lamps supplement the area further in. The employees wore a neat looking typical uniform for waiters. The menu was filled with various deserts and drinks.

Overall, it was a cute looking café and popular too, from the interior crowded with people. But what he didn't realize was that the café was occupied filled almost exclusively with females. Lunaire coughed likely to maintain his appearance and straighten himself.

"No, no, it is alright. You don't have to hurry for us. Almost other seat is filled and we saw that you were sitting alone at this table." The shorter girl answered, while ignoring the nudge from her friend. They seemed to be in their early teenage years.

Her friend nudging at her back appeared to berate the shorter girl from interrupting his mean. A woman of average height, she sported a rather handsome look, almost tomboyish. The brown-gold eyes held a strong light. The thing that strike Lunaire the most though was her movement. Even though not to the level of Meiling, the ways her limbs moved betrayed an impression of martial artist. The muscle strength might be a little on the lacking side was his evaluation.

The shorter girl has longer black hair that cascaded down her back and complemented nicely with her petite stature. Her limbs were quite long for her height though. Though her impression was different from a Yamato Nadeshiko, a typical expression of cultivated Japanese beauty, Lunaire was willing to bet that she was some highborn noble lady from some family, delicate but also strong-willed. However, it was not her appearance that made her very attractive, but he eyes. The slight glance at her eyes could make normal people lost in the brilliance of the pair of red marbles. Vampire was what crossed his mind, but her aura did not betray even the hint of vampiric aura. It was quite rare for a human to have this shade of red as their eye color.

"I will be honored to have you join me." He stood up to pull a seat out for the two of them.

"Thank you. Here goes, Mari, just sit." They took the seats opposite of him.

Lunaire beckoned the waitress to bring the menu for the ladies before him. The petite took a thoughtful look, while the petite only took a glance.

"Chiffon cake of the day and Earl gray please." Like a weather chime, the petite lady's voice rang.

"I think…I will have the same as her." The girl called Mari followed.

"Anything else."

"That will be all. Thank you."

After the waiter left, they took a moment to get comfy. Lunaire was desperately tried to determine their personalities. It would not do to offend people right of the bat. As far as he knew, modern society maintained almost the same manner as a century before, although it was much more conservative though he had to say.

"Excuse me for haven't introduce myself yet. My name is Lunaire V. Meister (Author note: Britannia). Nice to meet you. Please just call me Lunaire." Trying to appear at least friendly, he smiled lightly. He didn't particularly like how Japanese people would address him as Meister in the past.

"Good morning, Lunaire-san? My name is Saegusa Mayumi. It's written as nanakusa, but read Saegusa. Nice to meet you. And my friend here is Watanabe Mari." Saegusa appeared to slightly relax as he basically open the conversation for her.

"Nice to meet you, I am Watanabe Mari."

"I am honored, Saegusa-san, Watanabe-san."

"It seemed…that you have quite the luggage." Mayumi started.

"Well, I have been asked by a lot to go shopping for them. They are quite…unique." He grimaced, but at the same time was quite amused at the irony of how unique was an understatement.

The girls also seemed to be amused, but at different reason. It was not every day to see a man buried in shopping bags after all. They all had their own share of bags, but their combined was eclipsed by the sheer amount that Lunaire had.

"Well you seemed to have interesting sisters." Many feminine articles of clothing seemed to testify against him, but Lunaire felt that the misunderstanding might not need to be rectified…at least not now. He just chuckled.

The group amused themselves with light conversation. With a clank, their order arrived and Lunaire realized the existence of his half-eaten cake. The tea was also cold. He pulled a face and quickly drank the tea before ordering another cup, while working on his cake. There was no way lukewarm tea could satisfy him.

* * *

Saegusa laughed lightly at his antics before enjoying the cake, but more so the chance to eat outside. As a member of Saegusa family, she never really had all that much freedom, with more expectation weighting down on her than most. She had to practically beg her father to allow her this little respite at the mall.

Hopping for something that would entertain her at least for a bit, she and Mari wandered through the mall. This café was her favorite back in the day and it pleased her greatly to have a chance to sit in once again. What she did not expect was a meeting with this person.

'A foreigner' was her first impression. His eye-catching silver pony tail and fair skin pointed him out to be of Caucasian descent. His age should be around 15 to 17 teens, but it was rather hard to pinpoint from his experienced aura. This man evoked a rather peculiar feeling to her.

* * *

The lunch was rather fulfilling for Lunaire, even if it was consisted of only deserts and tea. The petite woman in front of him proved to be a rather adept conversationalist, though her friend did not talk as much. Other than that, to his woe, he found that both of them were clinical teasers. But alas, the pride built over long years would not let him took those lying. In the end, he satisfying took the last laugh, leaving Mari to giggle at Mayumi's expense.

"It seems that our pleasant time had come to an end." Lunaire stood up when everyone finished their respective orders, gathered the bill and paid for everyone before Mayumi frantic, but failed attempt to stop him. It was the least that he could do.

If one wanted to question why he was having lunch with ladies and not on his way to business, he could only dismiss it with "gathering information."

They went out the storefront. Lunaire thanked the girls for an excellent conversation before turning to leave.

"Wait, Lunaire-san. Where are you going after this?"

"Oh well. I think I might want to look into some…CAD is what it is called, I think. I want to get check out whether I have magic or not before that too." He let out a remark, while well aware that if it was magic he knew, he was at the very top of the tier. The research that he conducted at the library though showed that unlike spiritual power or mana or chi or anything familiar to him, modern magic seems to use something called psion. The psion emitted by the magician is given form by CAD and then used to interfere with the information bodies called Eidos.

The closest resemblance he found was with the research document he had read in 1998 when he assaulted a Meister family's remote laboratory in United State to be used as a cover to throw his pursuer of track. No matter the purpose, it did not stop him from nabbing some research data to satisfy his thirst for knowledge before blowing everything with high density magic blast. According to the research paper, it was about something like Esper or supernatural ability users and the exact mechanism they used to interfere with reality. After he went through with the research, Lunaire actually felt terribly bad about himself. Although human experimentation carried the implication of cruelty, even the documents of the highest clearance that he obtained showed no sign of torture or anything unethical being done to the subjects. Many of the natural Espers involved in the experiment were alive without any harm by the end along with a few who volunteered to undergo power development program. The only thing that saved his conscience from guilt was the fact that nobody died.

Although he never understands why the Meister family had shown interest in Espers, this begged the question whether if there is any connection between Espers and modern magician. For everything he knew, mana or spiritual power, was the essence driving the workings of all magic.

"You are a magician Lunaire? You did not strike me as one." Mayumi's eyes widen and she covered he mouths, surprised.

"I am testing for it right now." He asked as a matter of fact.

"Wait, now?" Mari, deciding that something did not add up, spoke.

"What do you mean now?"

"I mean I have never heard of a person transferring from a normal high school to a magical one. If you want to walk down that path, you would have applied when you finish middle school." Mari countered.

"Ano. Watanabe-san, Saegusa-san, I…haven't finish middle school yet, after all I am…just 14?" He appealed, almost face-palming himself inside. The appearance and his aura accused him of being much older, but he was claiming he was still studying middle school. He had to bite his tongue lightly to restrain his fidgeting, while he waited for her reaction.

"…" Both of them blanked out stiff. He had to wave his hand in front of their face before they reacted. In hindsight, he should have taken the opportunity to run and save himself from the explanation that would ensue.

"You are younger than me?!" Mayumi frantically retreated back a few steps and, with her arm extended, pointed at his face. Her cheeks were colored with healthy pink blush and her eyes swam as if to comprehend the scene before her. After all, he looked 17, but was actually 14, in paper.

"You…" The reaction from Mari was more subdued, with only her eyebrows twitching and her eyes wide open.

Both girls appeared crossed when Lunaire laughed heartily.

* * *

 _ **Somewhere above the sky of Japan**_

A figure of a girl could be seen flying through the air with ripples of condensed water behind her. The peculiar thing about this girl was that her hand carried a small autumn maple leave-colored fan and a notebook.

Aya was surveying the geographical features of the land. After a few days of absence, Lunaire returned and asked for a survey around the entirety of Japan. Although it was a tough work to ask of her, Aya was more than happy to go stretching her wings and test out her new digital camera. The various scenery of modern Japan would be a good scope for her after all.

Her target today was Tokyo, the city they had been in contact with the most after their translocation into the outside world. Aya was burning inside with zeal.

What bugged Aya though were the large crystal necklace hung from her neck that would project a concealment field and the fact that she could not interact with anyone absolutely under no circumstance, but those were nothing that would deter the fantasy reporter. If she couldn't interview people, then she would take picture till she couldn't take no more.

* * *

On the monitor, a multiple blips of magic activity were appearing in various places across the city. It was small, but strange in nature. All of the signatures were almost identical, but it appeared to be hopping between different sensors at fast interval. The man in the office wondered what could it mean, a prank? The level was pretty low and without the sign of any fighting, the same as what he picked up sporadically over the last few weeks.

The man, urged by his suspicion, filed a single report that would play a major role in the series of event that will change their world.

00000

There goes another one.

If you guys can't make the connection, the first sighting of supernatural power was in 1999, when the police officers used some ability to stop nuclear terrorism in USA.

Please give constructive criticism. I made it so that you can now anonymously review.


	5. Chapter 5: Aura

Hello, ITalkToSky here

Well well well, more to fuel the fire.

I am sorry for the slack, a lot of thing piled up over on this side.

Now, I believe that you all might be bored of Lunaire action, so it is time to switch something up. This chapter will be featuring a wide variety of Touhou casts and their interaction with the local.

Let's get into the action.

00000

 _ **Somewhere…**_

On the other side of the city, a pair of young ladies was walking with awkward silence looming over them. Their destination was, as normal as it may sound a supermarket.

Their outfit was quite plain and very indistinguishable from others residents in the area. However, the young women were attractive in their own right, but what stood out was their hair color. The one on the right sported a very long light purple hair that flowed like a river of silk down her back. Her face appeared to be relaxed, but her eyed kept a wary lookout around her. On her left was a girl with a stoic expression, wearing her whitish grey hair in long braids on both sides of her face with green bows at the end.

Reisen and Sakuya were tasked with running errand for their foodstuffs and other consumables. After a proper cram course on the modern currency, they were dispatched. Arriving by magically cloaked flight, they landed and on the predestinated area free from prying eyes, previously marked by Aya, before continuing on foot for their business.

The town was quite close to their mansion, but in the opposite direction of Tokyo. It was decided that they should spread out their activities irregularly over wider area and based more on harder to trace location out in the countryside. In the dire case of minor skirmish, there would be more space to maneuver and generally more cards in hand to play so that they may never get to in confrontation.

The landing was uneventful and both were able to act the part within the herd of people. They steady made their way to the supermarket, while worrying slightly about what they would face. A crash course could not substitute for firsthand experience after all.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion…**_

"It's going to get interesting very soon, don't you think so too, Patche?" The owner of the youthful voice asked the stoic girl sitting across her.

"…I don't know."

"That's all I am going to get out of you."

At that remark, Patchouli coughed dryly. With an unchanging grin, Remilia looked at Patchouli who was enjoying her book and a cup of tea. She grimaced likely at what supposed to be a social tea time, but that would be expecting too much with only Patchouli left.

Everyone in the mansion was out at the moment, except them and the fairies. She desperately wanted to go, but it seemed that her impulsive nature was not suit for gathering information. Of course there was her unparalleled stealth at night, but only that and her combat ability stood out. Remilia was not a poor conversation partner, but not the best at wrestling out information. It was an open secret that Lunaire himself found it addicting to play her for a fool. As such it was decided that she would stay, along with Patchouli who obviously did not want to move.

"Patchouliii, I am bored?" Remilia stretched her syllables and lightly flailed about her hands.

"Read."

"Mou!" The little vampire felt irritated today. Being left out was one thing, but she could not shake of the suffocating feeling she had. When she breathed, she felt as if it did not quench the need to breathe again. It almost as if she did not breathe in anything. Where was the fresh sensation one would get from just breathing.

In Gensokyou, she never felt this way. Even on the most humid day, the air felt crisp and world apart from the air she was breathing in at the moment. Lunaire mentioned something about magic power concentration, but this was getting out of hand, Remilia thought.

"Patchouli…" Remilia's voice trailed off. Even though she was intended to ask whether Patchouli also felt that way, the series of dry cough she let out was a sufficient answer. It probably felt even worst for Patchouli, considering that her being basically subsisted of magic power. Remilia frowned.

"I will get used to it." Patchouli stopped her from voicing her concern.

"It's a strange place we have ended up right."

"We haven't left this place for *cough* long."

"Yes, but the last time we actually saw human settlement was…when was it?"

"I don't remember either, only that the air started to smell bad." As expected of Patchouli, she was very sensitive to air quality.

"Right, you told me that." Remilia grew solemn, reminiscing the past of her long life. Their conversation came to a stop. Remilia picked up her tea and found it quite lukewarm and then realized that Sakuya was not here.

"Patchouli, can I borrow some of your magic and heat this up"

With a snap of figure, Remilia went back to enjoy herself.

* * *

 _ **In the Supermarket**_

Sakuya was slightly please. The supermarket was very neat, although quite crowded. It was vexing and strange for her to be out of maid outfit, but the orderly rows of goods in the store calmed her down.

Reisen only seemed slightly surprised at the number of person, but no more than that. The technology used on Earth was quite behind the one she was used to on the Moon…before she defected to a more peaceful place that is.

The two chose to run this errand for different reasons. The grey haired maid taking this job was a given. For the disguised moon rabbit though, the idea of going around surveying and gathering information reminded her of her days in the lunar military, so she shied away. Reisen was quite reluctant to let go of her peaceful surrounding for some time.

Just as they agreed earlier, they spread out to buy whatever on the shopping list. The shopping list took a while to compile, because even Lunaire himself did not properly check or even cared to check the shelves of the supermarket. In the end, only simple things like rice, soy sauce, vegetables along with other odds and ends made it into the list.

The perfect maid of the scarlet devil mansion, of course, took it in stride and got to work immediately, leaving the poor bunny to her device.

Reisen was quite lost. Deciding that she had not got all day, she decided to wander and pick up anything in the list that she sees.

* * *

Suddenly she felt shill creeping up her spine and shuddered. From her surprise, she almost dropped the Shoyu bottle she had grasped in her hand. Slightly flustered, she placed the bottle firmly back on the shelf.

It was a quite strange sensation that struck her. Her face turned to look around, swaying her short black hair. All that she saw were shelves packed filled with goods of various types and a couple of people, all seemed to be rather far from her to pull anything on her.

'What is this feeling?' She pondered, before taking a closer look at everyone else. They seemed pretty normal, going about their shopping routine. Nobody was spooked like her.

She took another look around and suddenly felt her vision brighten slightly. Bewildered, she blinked rapidly, before squinting at the direction. What was there was simply the end of rows of shelves by her side. Even if a part of her said to ignore it, she went with her curiosity and walked to the end of the shelves toward the more open part of the shop.

Determined to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her, she scanned the surrounding once again. And again, her vision brightened at a spot. Looking straight at the spot, what she found beyond the low counters housing various products was a girl.

She was of average height and had an eye-catching lilac colored hair, which she internally wondered whether it was natural. The girl looked very lost and seemed to wander and look around. Occasionally, she looked down to stare at a strip of paper she held in one hand with a troubled expression. The girl sighed exasperatingly before looking up. Their eyes met for a second and the black-haired girl was stunned at the red shade and clarity of her eyes.

The lilac girl, dressed in white short sleeve shirt with blue skirt, trained in on her and started walking in closer. As the girl approach, the black-haired girl gasped lightly, when she realized that the brightening of her vision seemed to envelop the approaching girl. Before she could think further, the lilac girl spoke.

"Ano…I'm sorry, but which shelf has Shoyu and salt. I walked around for a while and still haven't found it."

The impression the lilac girl left her with was very polite, but that kind of slipped passed her mind as she started to consider what she had seen.

'How could that be? Why is her aura visible?'

"Are you alright, miss?"

"Yes, I'm alright." The black-haired girl flustered before lightly aligned her spectacle and cordially point her to the correct direction.

When their conversation ended, the black-haired girl eyed the other girl's retreating back. She had first suspected that her glasses probably malfunction as she should not be seeing aura that brightly, but with couple glances at other customers, it appeared to not be the case.

Resolving herself, her hand pinched on the frame of her glasses and slowly pulled it off. What Shibata Mizuki saw next was colored pure white.

* * *

'Why is she so nervous?' Reisen thought to herself. After asking for direction from her, she was left quite baffled. The girl looked very surprise to see her.

Reisen racked her thought whether she had seen a meek girl like that before. Her short black hair with purple string assessor did not remind her of anyone, both from Gensokyo and the moon.

The moon rabbit decided to treat it as coincident. Her expression probably did not meant for her or she was just exceptionally shy, or so she thought.

Resigning to just continue on her way, get some Shoyu and salt she came for then be off on her way, she pressed on. What she did not realize was that the girl that she just left behind was crouching down, while pressing her fingers to her temple and gasping for air.

* * *

Sakuya met up with Reisen at the decorative and tea sub-store in the supermarket. Both viewed the place with interest, but from different angle.

The maid was greatly interest in the western plants, some of which she was used to and other she was not, and various scented tea that lined the shelf. Although the tea bag were rather unacceptable (mediocre in layman term), she found that the full leaves and the more expensive brands was rather nice. Even if it did not come very close to Sakuya personally brewed tea, it was refined enough. As the tea stock was running low and they did not have access to their usual plantation they frequented in Gensokyo, her hands were forced on this one. She picked a few boxes of the one that smell the nicest, after a very period of scrutiny.

Reisen, although mostly acted as a medicine seller, was actually an apprentice to the genius pharmacist, Yagokoro Eirin. She raked up quite long hours of training on her record. However, unlike what other may believe about being her apprentice, Eirin did not test her newly created drugs on her, if threatening to do so, abstaining from informing Reisen of the side effect and various slip-ups did not contribute to such statement. Especially that green glowing combat performance boast drug, she could never forget the trauma from using it three times in a row.

But back on topic, Eirin was quite interested in many plants that are not native to Gensokyo. She walked around and closely observed the plants and earned a wry smile from the shop attendant. Unlike a silent-type Sakuya, Reisen seemed to find no end to the questions she had to ask the shop attendant, who was also the owner. Although the lady in neat dress calmly explained qualities of each plant, she was quite baffled to see that an obvious plant enthusiast like this lilac haired girl before her would not know such basic facts.

When they left the store, Sakuya was slightly annoyed that she could not find what she wanted, but Reisen was satisfied. The budget they were allowed to spend personally in addition to what were requested was quite large, so Reisen took the chance and bought a lot of seeds. The rabbit was quite disappointed that Sakuya warned her against taking potted plants back due to weight.

* * *

 _ **A few minutes earlier**_

"What was that aura?" Mizuki who just recovered her breath muttered. With her eyes still perceiving spirit emission at full acuity, the lingering trace of Reisen's aura burned deeply in her retina.

The meek girl had the condition called over-sensitivity to spirit particle emission, which is a condition when one's eyes are able to actively perceive pushion light. Although seeing random light coming out of people in itself is only a nuisance and not dangerous, perceiving pushion allowed the emotional state of the spirit that was emitting the light to compromise her own. Seeing a sad person pushion emission can cause her to be sad too. That is the main reason people with this disorder wear aura-cutting glasses to prevent both their retina and their emotion from being overly stimulated.

The shock from viewing the strong aura, capable of partially bypassing the aura-cutting lens from Reisen, without any protection obviously promised an instant stun for the poor Mizuki, who did not properly braced herself. But alas, it was the curiosity that killed the cat.

Miziku groggily rose to her feet and began organizing her feelings and sensation she felt from receiving the aura.

The first impression was bright, unimaginably bright. It was as if someone just blasted a floodlight into her eyes. She thought it was white from the brightness, but when she thought about it, she realized that it was tinged red. The aura tightly wrapped around her was waver and gave a confusing feeling, as if she would be lost in it forever and go crazy.

As she was pondering, one of the staff of the supermarket called her out. Mizuki found that the owner of that seering aura was not there anymore in her perception range and clamored off on her ways.

00000

Sorry if the snippet with Mizuki felt a bit short, but that was kind of purposeful, because their meetings are brief initially. What it did was making her wary and I will follow up on that, maybe…

Or I am just a horrible writer (I probably am :P)


	6. Chapter 6: Youkai Magician Failure

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Muwahahahahaha. I just have the sudden urge to laugh.

Anyway, I am free, so have another chapter. The caffeine buzz from the coke still kept me up, so here you go.

Nothing much to say, just a continuation to Lunaire's action.

00000

"Well then. I shall be on my way." Lunaire bowed slightly, barely concealed his snickers. It seemed that this magician still could and kill his teasing habit.

Hastily adjusting the shopping bags on his arms to a more comfortable, he spun around, ready to hop away. What he found, though, was that he was stuck. Lightly struggle, he finally knew the nature of his bind.

"Lunaire-san." Mayumi, who grasped his back collar with a vice grip menacingly, dragged her voice sweetly.

'I…messed up.' Lunaire thought as he reflected that he showed his amusement too much.

"Yes?" He tried with his last speck of resistance to appeal with the most innocent tone as possible.

"I hope you done mind if I decided to accompany you a bit."

"Well you see. I have appointment right..."

"I am sure you are free, right?" Mayumi continued with the sweetest voice possible. She probably knew that everyone in their vicinity had every single of their alarm tripped. Only god knew how that little devil would unleash her wrath.

"I am no-."

"You ARE free, it seems."

'Allowing no resistance whatsoever is it?' Lunaire grimaced and groaned.

The million dollar question going through his mind right now was 'how do I bail out from this.' His hands were kind of tied up with the shopping bags, so he resigned to tugging his neck forward a little, but found that Mayumi's vice like grip did not yield an inch.

"I am quite a magician myself, so I can definitely give you a few advices myself." It sounded very assuring, but the ominous giggle at the end warned him otherwise. More than that, what shocked was other than that.

'Saegusa, written as nanakusa? Numbers?' He finally, after long last, understood the true identity of the lady behind him. It took him pretty long, but even for a magician who adores learning as their life long work, the information load of the past few weeks were too much. Lunaire chastised himself silently for not realizing the family name of one of the family that played a major role in Japan's current magic world, though he could not be held much fault. It was buried deep in his mind that the authority in Japanese oriental magic was Abe family. There last few descendant was still alive and kicking before he left a century ago after all.

"Well you see. It is unbecoming of me to burden Saegusa-san like that so I think I would go…"

"Of course not. You are not a burden at all or do you dislike onee-san." Lunaire was getting pretty cornered. He admitted as a century old bookworm, he forgot quite a bit of the human interaction.

"…I give. I give. Alright, Saegusa-san" Lunaire finally surrendered.

"Yoshi, Yoshi."

He shifted uncomfortably out of Mayumi's grip on his collar and turned around to see Mayumi doing a victory pose to Mari, reveling in her win against a cheeky brat.

Lunaire sighed loudly.

"So where will miss expert recommend us today?"

"You are getting more and cheekier." Mayumi growled as Mari giggled at her remark.

"I am born this way." Lunaire countered plainly.

"Mari, what would you do?"

"I don't particularly have anything better to do, so I might tag along." Adorning her smile was a grin, but for some reason Lunaire felt that it was directed more to Mayumi than him.

"Perfect!" Mayumi grabbed Lunaire's wrist and began to unceremoniously drag him away, followed closely by Mari who still could not wipe that grin off her face.

* * *

"Hello, welcome to Suzuya CAD store. May I know what type of CAD you are looking for?" As soon as Mayumi dragged Lunaire into the neat store front with a large sign with store name written on it, the store clerk warmly greeted them. Her greeting was impeccable, but her closed eyes and the ease in which she performed it showed her practice. She must have repeated this routine for a long time.

"Kirin-san, can you please prep a magic examination course for this person? If he passes, then he would like to purchase a CAD too." Mayumi concluded her business quickly in one breath.

"Ok, leave it to me, Mayumi-san. Who have you brought here? Eh, a guy?" The store clerk eyes trained in on him. Her autumn maple colored hair, tied in a lose ponytail, swayed lightly as she walked closer. She looked like women in her early twenty with a calm droopy eye. Her gait seemed to be soft, leaving little sound of her footsteps. Lunaire first thought that she was trained to be so, but her innocent demeanor belied otherwise. She was just very light-footed.

Her hazy green eyes widen as she hesitatingly circle around him.

"Good afternoon. I am Lunaire V. Meister, please to meet you." Trying to dispel an awkward atmosphere, he quickly introduced herself and stretched his hand forward.

"Likewise, I am Kirika Kirin. I work here both as a store clerk and the magic engineer here." The woman introduced herself warmly.

'So this is what an elder-sisterly type mean. She seemed…fluffy. This type is quite rare in Gensokyo.' Lunaire thought silently as she shook his hand.

"So this is Mayumi-san's type. He is quite cute." With Kirin's unnecessary remark, Mayumi blushed deep red. Lunaire tried his hardest to tighten in face.

"Wh-wh-what are you talking about Kirin-san?! I had only just met him in the mall you know. There is no way we are in that kind of relationship!?"

"Hmm…well, okay then." Kirin let out a meaningful smile before turning around, leaving a steaming red Mayumi to her device and started keying something onto her information device.

"You really are weak to Kirin-san's teasing, aren't you Mayumi."

"Shut it Mari." Mayumi pouted cutely.

Although tempted to keep watching flustered Mayumi, Lunaire had something else he had to do. He was not very confident that he would be compatible with this psion-based modern magic. He definitely would like to confirm it, but the presence of a Saegusa was the variable he did not expect. Lunaire wished and begged himself not to let his curiosity get the better of him and do things that would draw attention.

When he was concocting the plan to evade attention in his mind, Kirin approached him after she took a last long look at her device.

"It is free now. You can take the test when you are ready. Do you want to take it now, Meister-san?"

"Kirika-san, please call me Lunaire. I am not used to being called with my family name. I am ready." Lunaire endured not to let the woman in front of him notice his grimace. He still could not handle being associated with the family he resolved himself to forsake after all.

"Then Lunaire-san, this way please." She turned around and began to lead him to a small door behind counter. As she passed by the counter she placed her information device on, she briefly pressed on a small button. Wondering briefly what it does, Lunaire learned that it was simply a buzzer from the small label stickered beside it.

As they entered the room, they were greeted with sickeningly white tilled room. Lunaire felt that the place was quite dull, giving the feeling of clinical cleanliness and also extreme pragmatism. The space was also quite large to be the back of the store in the mall. On their way in, Lunaire saw a figure of a girl running in the opposite direction and finally understood the reason Kirin pressed the buzzer. There need to at least be someone at the storefront.

Kirin walked ahead of him toward a long device that looked like a track with a long slit running along it. On one end of the slit, there was a rectangle metal block with four miniature wheels on it. At the end of the track, there is a clean white podium and on the opposite side, there is a large screen. The store clerk tapped a few buttons and the displays sparked to life.

"Do you need explanation of what you need to do?" Kirin asked Lunaire as Mayumi and Mari flanked the podium of the device.

"Yes, please do. I am quite new to this."

"Okay, although most people who do not aspire to be a magician will not know what this does, most aspiring magician should know what it does. As a friendly advice, please study seriously before you take the exam, okay?" Kirin gave him a cordial smile.

"Thank you for your guidance." He bowed slightly.

"What you will be doing today will be a test to see if you have magical talents. I have to warn you that not everyone will emerge from this happy." Kirin's tone hardened slightly at the mention.

"The test will be for you to compile a single systematic magic. The assessment will be how fast can you compile and invoke the magic. The magic in this case is 4 steps long. Accelerating the plate forward, decelerating it to a stop, accelerating it back and then stop it. The activation sequence is already loaded into that CAD in the machine. The CAD is still with factory setting so there will be no assistance."

"So what should I do?"

"Just step onto that podium and place your hands on that plate. When you are ready to activate the magic, just press slightly onto the plate and the CAD will start up. From then on is automatic." Kirin's explanation came to an end.

Lunaire was quite uncomfortable having so many stares on him, but he tried to give no heed to it and rose to the podium and placed his hands on it. His ponytail swayed slightly as he raised his eyes from the board toward the metal plate on the track.

'Move it forward, move it backward. Sounded simple enough. At first I thought I will have trouble drawing out this psion they are talking about, but if this machine will pull it out on its own then that helped. Let's do this.' Lunaire thought silently.

Although he read quite extensively about how the modern magic works, he never experienced the psion personally, so he was not really confident he could draw it out. The part about the subconscious calculation was at least understandable. Modernized magic that valued precision required the magician to subconsciously input the variables to affect the parameters of the spell. Mostly this is in a numeric form like 10 meters in front, but since it is subconscious calculation, a sense of distance is all that is required. A magician does not require to active think 10 meters in the front and only think "there!" The speed in which their brains process that spatial data and input into the magic sequence is one of the assessments for the magician.

Comparing to mana-based magic Lunaire is used to, modern magic is much more rigid. For spatial targeting, it is quite similar as magic user like Lunaire also needs to know where and when using some mean, either visual confirmation or extra-sensory magic. Although he can random fires by designate distance randomly, but that is another matter. However, what modern magician could not do was conditional activation. This type of magic only activate when certain condition is met like if someone stepped into the detection range, then explode. Although he had read about the self-immolation spell, it was determined to be the CAD that detected the imminent death and expanded the activation sequence for the spell and not the spell that conditionally self-immolate when the target dies.

Furthermore, it seemed that modern magic cannot enchant objects for an extended period of time reliably. Short duration reinforcement was possible, but it was required to be recast often and lengthening the effective time will increase the burden. Engraving made it possible to enchant an object, but still require a psion input of the user, thus will not allow non-magician to use it to full effectiveness. This along with other limitations made modern magic quite limited in his opinion.

Deciding that it was the time he should end his revision of magic and finally see for himself the modern magic, Lunaire pressed onto the screen. What he saw was a spiral of fast spinning numeric lines around one of his arm and then he was assaulted by tremendous pain in his head.

"Agh! Aaah!" Lunaire cried in pain as his right hand snapped to squeeze his temple. Along with the pain, he started to hear a myriad of unintelligible noise, like scratching a needle with glass panes, but tens time louder. His vision violently contorted as his eyes watered slightly.

"Lunaire-san!" Noticing the abnormal change, Kirin ran quickly toward the screaming boy and attempted to pull him back.

With the last of his strength, he pushed himself away from the CAD and slammed his back on the steel hand rail, heaving heavily.

"Are you alright Lunaire-san?" Mayumi grabbed the shoulder of the boy along with Kirin in an attempt to keep him from falling over, which proved to be quite a difficult task for both women with rather petite frames.

As he composed himself and pulling himself straight of the handrail, calming his breathing and slowly massaging his ache head. When he felt he was calm enough, he raised his head and looked at the faces of everyone present. All their faces were painted with concern, but Kirin and Mayumi appeared very shocked and shaken, while Mari's face was grimmer.

"I have never seen someone with that reaction to CAD before. What happened? What did you feel?"

"Like being waked up from a hangover with a shout to the ear." He coughed slightly and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

Feeling the pain subsiding, Lunaire turned around and noticed the number on the screen opposite of the podium.

"2147 milliseconds." He groggily read and turned to Kirin for confirmation. What he received was the most sympathetic look that it almost hurt the old man's heart.

"Lunaire-kun, you have to be calm and listen to me. Although I am quite sad to break it to you, but I don't think a magical path suits you. Not only you seemed to have such a harsh reaction to CAD, you timing was also…sub-par. But don't worry; there is a lot of way still open to you. Don't look so down." With the most encouraging tone possible, Kirin tried to comfort Lunaire, seeing his crestfallen look. She even went to the effort of changing his suffix.

What she did not know was that more than failing at the test could have done, her pitying gaze was hurting him.

'Who does she think I am, a brat who just got this dream wrecked? Being treated like a child like this will make me cry you know. More than that, I am already crying inside you know? Why must you hurt me so?" Lunaire grimaced as he sucked in his breath.

00000

And here it is. I call upon the great power of the god of cliffhanger.

What would Lunaire do, being announced as a failure in magic even though he is a Youkai Magician?

Don't worry, the medicine for cliffhanger will be done shortly…I think.

Anyway, catch you guys later, bye.


	7. Chapter 7: Improvement

Hello, ITalkToSky here

I have mixed feeling about this chapter. I am really not sure whether Mayumi and Mari were out of character or not. I really have to brush up my Mahouka skill.

You might be unsatisfied with how the story turn out, but bear with me as the explanation for what happen will be coming soon.

00000

"I will give it a try again, just in case." He gave them a reassuring smile, but they seemed to take it differently.

"You don't have to push yourself when you are in pain like that." Mayumi pulled his shoulder, trying to tear him away from the machine.

"That's right. Magic is not the only way of life you know." Even Mari could not stand to not say anything. What that did was making the century old magician cried inside.

'Why are you so mean?! You too, Kirika-san, stop looking at me with that lukewarm gaze. I am just trying again to confirm that I could not use it, so that I could simply move on. Why are they looking like they are persuading me from suicide?!' Lunaire thought as cried even more inside. He wondered why the modern girls were so mean.

"Don't worry, all of you. I am just checking again, so that I can just be on my way. I have other ways to walk, so it is not like this is going to devastate me or something. Why are you looking like you are persuading a person trying to commit suicide? That hurt me bad, you know?" He jokingly stated his mind and approached the CAD after gently pulling Mayumi's hand off his shoulder.

His head was still quite numb from the ordeal, so he massaged his temple a bit before placing his hands back on the CAD screen. After a moment, he pressed on the screen. The pale blue string of numbers started spiraling around his wrist once again. Before he knew it, he was assaulted by the pain again, but more suppressed. Lunaire felt the pain was lower than the first he tried it. The world swayed a bit, as if he was having seasickness all over again. He was grateful he did not have a heavy lunch, even if the amount of the cake he ate was not quite small.

'I will need some tea to do over this headache.' Lunaire thought to himself silently.

His eyes followed the movement of the metal plate. When the strings of number ended, a small convoluted geometric pattern suddenly appeared beneath the plate, sending it forward before the pattern disappeared.

'Interesting. Multiple processed all in one cast, back and forth she goes.'

He amused himself with his internal thought. When the plate came back to stop at his end, he peered at the timer board.

'1643 milliseconds.' He did not know what to make of it as he had not yet heard the benchmark from Kirin.

"Ano…how long was the standard again." He tentatively asked without turned around to look.

"You have tried hard, really, but…" As if she could not bear to see it anymore Mari stepped in closely, preparing to pull him from the machine. Although he did not know, his cold sweat and clenched jaw gave away the amount of pain he felt. Mari did not know what could have cause the pain, but if he was suffering, she was determined to stop it.

"Don't worry about it." Deciding that asking further was futile, he leaned his weight on the panel and pressed again.

"Wait you!" Mari cried.

"Stop it, Lunaire-san/kun!" Mayumi and Kirin's voices blended as one.

The code spiraled to life once again before being absorbed into his arm. This time though was a little bit different for Lunaire. The pain he felt was now reduced to thumping and noise of scraping a glass pane subsided to a more tolerable level. It was at this moment that he started to realize the dissonance he felt while operating with CAD. It was quite obvious to him for this magic to be different from the mana-based magic he is used to, but the feeling was rather new.

At the moment that spiral code appeared and absorbed, he felt the connection to the machine in front of him. From what he had learned, the machine stored the activation code as an electronic code that is converted into psion signal by using user psion particles and induction stone. The psion signal is then absorbed and processed in the brain. Somehow, to Lunaire, the absorption felt like opening an unoiled door or clogged pipe. That in itself was quite uncomfortable, but not outright pain.

The screeching noise and pain assaulted him only after the code almost finished their spiral. It felt like a stirred up pond. As a disciple of magic, Lunaire is highly attuned to his inner state and can easily manipulate his mental state to aid in spell casting. However, the absorbed psion code seemed to have messed up his control. The foreign texture and feeling compared to mana was probably the reason for the pain, Lunaire reasoned.

As he was closing his eyes and concentrated on his magic pathways, he heard the last ringing sound, signifying the end of magic and reopened his eyes.

'1217 milliseconds, faster.' Lunaire acknowledged his gain slightly and concentrated deeply on his magic pathways again. The sound of his breathing calmed him as he pushed his weight onto the device once again.

The processed repeated as his wrist was charged with the spiraling code again. This time he focused on the intruding presence in his mind. It felt like wave and gave a feeling as if he was on a swaying boat. This time, however, he consciously attempted alleviate the swaying. Cutting and thinning out the ripples he felt unnecessary, he felt the burden lessened greatly. Feeling more comfortable, he stretched his right hand forward with his fingers spread wide, his favorite gesture when casting magic.

The plate followed the same routine. At the appearance of blue glowing patterned, the metal plate moved back and forth. What was different though was the number at the end of the lane.

'894 milliseconds.' From his observation of how unhelpful his surrounding seemed to be at the moment, he judged that his best course of option was simply to again press down on the device, while ignoring any words around him.

'614 milliseconds, more keep going.' Somewhere along the line, he found it vexing that there were magic he could not practice and just kept on spamming the button. It seemed that he unknowingly picked up silent pride over the course of his long life studying magic.

'532 milliseconds.'

'476 milliseconds, kind of fun actually.'

'412 milliseconds.'

'372 milliseconds, I want a bit more.'

'334 milliseconds, there is still something…'

"Yes? Just a moment, please." As the poke as his side grew stronger, he instinctively responded with autonomous answer, the way he had been doing to everyone who disturbed his concentration. To his embarrassment, he had been known to say "just a moment" in regular interval for a few hours after Sakuya called him for the tea time when he was concentrating on reading something. Sometimes, a magician's concentration can be very scary.

"Lunaire-kun." The familiar voice of Kirin rang out.

"Yes? Just a moment, please." He pressed down again.

'309 milliseconds…still there is…'

"Lunaire-kun!" Now it was Kirin's voice that jumped up a couple of decibels.

"Yes?! What is it?" He snapped to attention and warily looked around, before feeling sweaty on his forehead. Scouring his pocket for a handkerchief to wipe his face, he turned and beheld a half fuming half shocked Kirin. Lunaire quickly wiped his grin that seemed to be plastered onto his face when he was getting result.

"Why are you so reckless? You could have hurt yourself!?" Kirin shrieked and began to dragged Lunaire off the podium with the strength he did not know she possessed and dumped him on the revolving chair in front of some kind of machine.

"That's right. Who knew what could have happened? You good that really bad headache after all." Mari followed up.

"I am alright. I know my limit. After the first time, the pain was getting less. Now I am more or less fine. Isn't that alright, Watanabe-san?" He tried his best to show a disarming smile.

"Fools!" Mari chopped her hand on Lunaire's head, but missed as his twitch reflex kicked in and he kicked lightly on the floor, sending the revolving chair away from the swing. The tomboyish black hair girl lost her balance for a brief moment before splendidly recovered. After that though, she was not amused. Lunaire, sensing imminent danger to his wellbeing, bailed from his feet then started backing off.

* * *

The only person seemingly unaffected by childish banter was Mayumi. Her expression was unreadable as her mind worked overtime to explain what she saw.

'Whether it was the initial pain and horrendously long cast time were abnormal, but the decrease in cast time from 2 seconds to 300 milliseconds was utterly monstrous. Although casting speed can improve, there was no prior incident of it increasing with only a few round of practice. There is no way for a person who is so poor at magic to suddenly improve his cast time to a masterful level in a span of few minutes. Who exactly are you Lunaire V. Meister?' Mayumi pondered as she observed her friend chasing Lunaire around, trying to chop at his head.

* * *

"Ahem, once again, congratulation Lunaire-kun. The timing you got can qualify you as a rather skillful magician. Although we don't have the equipment to accurately gauge other parameters like interference strength and scale of your magic, at least we confirmed that you have talented. You really worked hard." Kirin finally recovered her sweet and fluffy elder-sister-like tone of voice as she addressed Lunaire after Mari settled down, unable to hit him in the end. It is worthy of mention though, that Lunaire found Kirin's voice very soothing to his ears. Combining her voice with her gentle demeanor, he was sure that anyone with an elder sister like her would be spoiled badly and might develop heavy sister complex, very dangerous.

"But what was that Lunaire-kun. How did you get your time to decrease that much? And is you head okay?" Mayumi concerned voice followed. He turned to her.

"I was just…not feeling well at that moment. Is 300 milliseconds that good of a time?" Quickly switched topic, he turned the attention to his performance.

"What do you mean good? That is some first-rate time you know. A decent magician will reliably perform at 500 ms, but only the elite will reach pass that boundary. Three hundred, Lunaire-kun, three hundred, from two thousand milliseconds. Although getting two thousand milliseconds was quite a shocker as the poorest performer that has the ability for magic usually don't exceed 1500." Mayumi finished her rant in a breath. She somehow decided to follow Kirin and dropped -san off his name.

"Don't know, don't care. If you think too much, you will look old you know." He feinted ignorance and tried to draw away attention by being intentionally insensitive.

"What?! You!?"

"Touché, Mayumi, did you hear that?" Mari, seeing the opportunity, jumped into the mix and teased Mayumi who was flustered.

"Hai, hai! Stop there. Calm down Mayumi-san. You too Lunaire-kun, you DON'T mention the age in front of a lady."

Lunaire gave a small laugh when Kirin stressed the last sentence.

"More than that, can we go take a look at the CAD? I am getting quite excited."

"Is that so? Then follow me."

Lunaire took it as a fast rope away from the splendidly ticked off Mayumi and sped toward the retreating maple-colored hair.

* * *

Lunaire was once again lamented at the terrible miscalculation. Not only did his plan of staying inconspicuous shatter to million pieces, the person who witnessed it had to be one of the more influential people in the society. The youkai magician berated himself repeatedly for his blunder.

When they reached the front of the store, he was asked for whether he had preference for certain system of magic. Lunaire read about CAD in depth and knew the difference between general and specialized CADs, a tradeoff between adaptability and speed. Kirin recommended to him that for the first timer, he should stick with the general type as he had not learned of his preferred magic type, in which he meekly comply. It was regrettable that although Lunaire preferred to be getting as much speed as possible, having the option of utilizing 9 spells from a single system was far too limited for his liking.

In the end he picked out a general-type bracelet CAD. It was hard to decide between a cellphone or a bracelet, but when he considered his close combat specialty, Lunaire opted for the bracelet. As for the activation sequence to be loaded, he asked for the simple and common ones required in magic high school setting.

He only requested the simpler ones, which perplexed people. Although it was not uncommon for people to assemble a phenomena from multi-stage spell, consisted of many simple spells invoked in sequence, it is far more common for people to load in activation sequence specialized for the task. It is a difference between mixing the ingredients yourself and having the instant mix in a single bag. Most magician would have both depending on their specialties.

With the simple, elementary spell filling only around a third of the CAD capacity, the real shocker for Mayumi and Mari was the sequences for the rest.

Although Lunaire had his misgiving about asking it in front of the girls following him, he decided not to mind as they probably seen enough already. The two-third of the space left was asked to be packed filled with activation sequences for close range combat, personal acceleration, extrasensory and his favorite type, long-range bombardment spells. Although all spells were legal, it peeved everyone. From the point of view of the two girls, Lunaire's CAD suddenly became much more terrifying, especially considering that they believed that he was only 14.

Although Kirin had her objection, she yielded under his strong insistence and finishing loading in the sequence along with tuning the machine to his psion wave. It was worthy of note though that she wore a slight frown that deepened after she had seen the result her machine displayed on the screen. Due to professionalism, she did not mention anything, but curiosity began to eat away at her mind.

Mari and Mayumi did not have much to say and watched on in silence after they saw that their protest against loading in such activation sequence went unheeded.

* * *

"Thank you very much, Kirika-san. I will visit again when the opportunity arises."

"Thank you for your patronage. You will be welcome always. Just don't get into trouble, okay? Just what do you need those sequences for?"

"Self-defense, self-defense." He chimed dismissingly.

"Just who are you defending against, that is a very decked out CAD?" The taller black haired girl inquired. Without stating any further, she was very worried for the boy as many strange occurrences seemed to revolve around him

"Just in case, be safe than sorry. Then I will have to be off, I have an appointment after this." He hopped on his feet and spun around before bolting away leaving the women unable to say anything else.

Lunaire had to admit that be constantly on guard for any blunder he could make the whole day made him tired, so he could not wish for a good hot bath and a good night sleep.

* * *

After she send Mayumi and Mari on her ways, she retreated back to her workbench. Tapping the activation code, the CAD tuning computer sprang to life as the blue light illuminated her green irises. Her fingers danced on the keyboard expertly, shifting the displayed about in search for a record.

Kirin was curious as to what caused the pain for the boy when he first used CAD and also the cause that his performance dropped. Since that went well, she decided not to mind it at first, but the resulted of the tuning boggled her mind. Not only the data was strange, it was also mighty hard to tune. At the moment of tuning, Kirin secretly recorded the psion wave data of the boy for analysis later.

Although she did it to satisfy her hidden curiosity, she also did it because she cared rather deeply for most of her customers.

She found the record she looked for and tapped her finger on the enter key and started looking at the rapidly moving shapes and alphabets.

00000

There we go one more suspicion into the mix.

The reason that Lunaire will be able to use psion-based magic will be explained in the next few chapters, so please bear with me for the time being. The hint is that it is in his racial trait as a Youkai Magician.


	8. Chapter 8: On a Vacation

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

After long last, I have returned. I am not dead. Bad news is I will be gone for around half a month give or take to tackle a monster named IB. Some of you will probably know what it is.

I am slow writer and I apologize that I did not manage to get to the meat of the Mahouka story, but I assure you I will be back.

To mention a more technical side, I will use the word mana and spiritual power interchangeably.

Now, on to the fiction.

00000

He concluded that CAD was usable and to a certain extent, safe for use, which in turn allowed for his friends to use it. With the current situation, he did not know what reaction people will make if he suddenly whipped out his mana-based magic, so as a precaution, psion-based magic will have to do.

Regarding the pain, he also made a note to himself to warn others to steady themselves before attempting to use CAD for the first time.

He squeezed the bridge of his nose and sighed. The past few months had been stressful. Lunaire probably had enough share of backdoor dealing to last him another lifetime…human's lifetime that is. It was a dance composed from intimidation, outwitting and trapping. Not that he knew that most trouble he had to go through was not only because of his status as a no name in the underworld, but mostly due to his youthful face.

Snatching a pen out of the inkwell, he scribbled a reminder about getting more CAD into a small note placed on the corner of his large writing desk. As he placed the note back, he noticed a glittering object hanging from a table top lamp close by.

The object hung loosely from the neck of the lamp. If one looked closely, one would see a thin silver chain with an object attached to it. The radiantly shining object had a deep blue sapphire embedded in the place where its arms are connected. The overall shape was cross with its surface meticulously crafted by many skilled artisans. If one were to look at it for a long time, they would be mesmerized by the craftsmanship of this pendent.

Lunaire stared straight into its tear drop shaped deep blue sapphire as if to search for something. After a while, he let out the breath he had been holding and looked away. With a creek, he pushed back his seat and stood up. The update meeting will start soon and he would do well not to miss it.

* * *

"Sakuya, it seems like you have gotten used to shopping in the neighborhood." The scarlet devil remarked as she glanced back at Sakuya, who was waiting behind her seat.

"Yes, milady. Although their selection of tea was quite…lacking, their other standard product was superb in quality."

"And there you have it, Lunaire, we won't have to worry about what we eat for now. But I am getting quite thirsty…if you know what I mean." Remilia looked over with a glint in her eyes.

"You can have my blood for now. You happy?" Lunaire offered, sighing.

"Ara, are you dissatisfied?"

"You always ruin my shirt, always. Why do you have to always be messy?"

"You can always take it off."

"No…I feel that I would lose something far more important than a shirt." His dignity, he continued inside.

"Ahem" The girl sitting beside Lunaire cleared her throat and tapping the table with her knuckle.

"Thank you Alice, now where were we?" Taking queue from Alice, the silver haired boy acted as if the tease never happened.

"Just wrapping up the matter about grocery. For that matter, I believed we covered up everything we had to cover. But…" Answering with her eyes half closed, Reisen then gently blew across the tea in her cup and took a sip.

"We still don't know what to do next, don't we?" Alice finished her sentence.

"Yeah. I have been sitting around helping Patchouli, da ze! I need something interesting to happen."

"I would have to concur on that. I have to admit that I prefer staying indoor, out of the sun. But with the current situation, I would like to go out once in a while."

"…"

"If you are going say something, say it, Patchouli." Alice looked troubled.

"Patchouli-sama should probably go out to get sun too. I am sure." With her bat-like wings flapping slightly, Koakuma lazily hovered behind Patchouli. Lunaire had to admit though that it was rather funny how such a small pair of wings could keep her afloat. It's not like a demon weight…ahem.

"Lunaire getting out really often is unfair, da ze."

Looking around the room, Lunaire felt that the gazes he received were rather expectant. His eyes wavered, looking troubled. At last he could not held their gazes and averted his eyes, praying fruitlessly for them not to notice what he had in plan. But alas, it was not to be.

"It seemed that our magician has some plan to share." Remilia giggled.

'No, my poker face, hold on.' Lunaire grimaced inside and he reined his expression under control.

"No such thing, Tor…*ahem* Remi, I assure you…(If you get my reference…)"

"Is that so? You seem to be a little bit preoccupied to me. I am sure it would be something we are sure to be interested in." Remi pressed her attack.

"Do I look that way? The CAD I got a few days ago was quite interesting, although I could do without the headache." Remi could appear rather charismatic to the one who first met her, but to this Lunaire, like all other residents of Scarlet Devil Mansion, it was nothing too hard to deal with.

"Indeed that was quite interesting…but you don't seem to be thinking much when we were discussing other matter." This time it was Alice, as she leaned closer. He eyes trained onto him like a bird of prey.

"Ah, since it was quite a pressing matter…"

"You are grasping on straws now, Lunaire. Now 'fess up." After saying that, Marisa leapt off her seat and nimbly circled behind his seat. With her hands now firmly pressing down on his seat, the long session of interrogation began. Throughout, his laugh did not subside.

* * *

 _ **Fast forwarding a few days…Naha Airport, Okinawa 2092**_

For the lack of better word, the flight was quite…interesting, actually to be more specific and honest, very hectic. Unlike Patchouli and Alice who could control their impulse to explore interesting things, Remilia and Marisa seemed to be unable to put a lid on their energy. As for Sakuya and Reisen, they seemed to be quite clam about this whole thing. No, scratch that, Sakuya just seemed not to care. He mistress was quite happy after all. For Reisen though, she just let an out a soft unimpressed hum when she saw the modern airplane. Lunaire shivered at how advance Lunarian technologies might be compared to even the modern human's.

Dressed in a rather quaint and neat-looking dark polo shirt and grey light trousers, Lunaire followed the group at the end to make sure that they did not scatter around. On his back, he carried a backpack he purchased earlier.

Lunaire felt very exposed. He almost tore his hair out when he heard about the airport regulation, while Marisa was horrified. He could not careless whether or not he could bring his water bottle into the plane, but not having his liquid catalyst and potion made him feel rather…vulnerable. Although he had to admit, allowing Marisa to carry her liquid formula bomb into the plane was like asking for trouble. Many of her formula were notoriously volatile and while causing very strangely little damage to personnel, oh boy, the little flask could blow a chunk of a building in a blink of an eye. He even in corporated some into his weapon design, especially the demolition pack, after heavy modification to its stability of course.

"It was a rather interesting experience, don't you think." Alice slowed down and matched her pace with Lunaire.

"Well, I have been on one before, but the propellers were quite loud back then."

"Ah yes…I always forget that you were from outside."

"Never have much chance to show that after all."

They conversation came to stop, but instead of silence, the boisterous surrounding kept them accompanied as they followed their excited friends.

"So how different is it, after a century has passed?"

"Very. Although I must say, it still gives a rather familiar feeling. Even if the things became more convenient and various things have change, there is something about Japan that I still feel both back then when I first set foot on this Island nation and now."

"I found that people here quite different from the ones at the human village at Gensokyo, but I can help but agree that they are a little bit similar, not only the language."

They continued until the counter where they get their paper work check out. Lunaire had to do most of these things for his friends as most of them are either not used to paperwork or simply too excited to care.

"Are you home sick?"

"No…I am not. For all that matter, I don't think there is anything left of that house, as far as I have checked."

"You seem distant about it."

"I have never talked much about my time before I came to Gensokyo, haven't I?"

"Yes…"

"Sorry Alice, can you keep this bunch around here, especially Remi. I have to go get our luggage at…I believe it is that way."

Noticing the overhead sign that said luggage pick-up point with an arrow, Lunaire quickly entrusted the group with Alice and hurried off.

* * *

As he walked, following the people who were also getting their luggage, he pondered what he felt in the plane. To him it felt like a very subtle, but strange scrying magic. Everyone also noticing it after Alice rose up the issue as they took their seat. It seemed that whoever it was, they did not break through the disguise we put on our group to mask our identity. It lasted only for a brief moment, like a cursory glance before breaking off.

As he was carried their luggage that appeared, he ran into the young boy. With cursory glance, the boy looked barely more than ten odd years, but his eyes told different story. Although stoic and cold, it was tempered and wary, unlike those found on any child he had ever met. Even Lunaire felt that his eyes were livelier when he was around his age.

"I am sorry." Lunaire hurriedly set the boy's large luggage straight before gather his own that were sent careening on the floor.

"Don't worry about it." He sent a sidelong look to my luggage scatter around. Unlike his that only consisted of 2 large suitcases, Lunaire was carrying many smaller suitcases, pack to the brim with various trinkets that each insisted on bringing. His hands reached to set his luggage up on the trolley beside him before squatting down to help Lunaire.

"Thank you. I am really sorry I bothered you." Lunaire curved his back into a perfect bow, courtesy to Sakuya, before turning around to carry luggage to his trolleys.

The youkai magician felt amused and troubled at the same time because the amount of trolleys he needed was three. He realized that he should have brought Alice and Marisa with him. Looking around, he saw the boy left the area with his trolley. He sighed and dashed with haste to get his friends.

* * *

'That was a rather strange person.' Shiba Tatsuya pondered over the brief run-in he had as he pushed his trolley to meet up with his mother and little sister.

His hair color was interesting, almost white as if from ailment, but retains its gloss to prove its healthiness. The color was rather unique in his opinion as he had seen many shade of platinum blonds, but not this pale to the extent of being the color of silver. But other than his hair color, his eyes unnerved Tatsuya slightly. The blue colored eyes were…strange in his eyes, almost…inhuman. He did not sense malice, but the fact that he was an unknown made Tatsuya keenly wary of him.

Even after meeting up with his mother, he still could not put a finger on what he felt was wrong with the boy. Keeping pace behind, his eyes stared forward.

"…What is it?"

"It is nothing." He heard Miyuki asking him and autonomously responded subserviently.

"If that is so, please do not stare at me. It is uncomfortable!"

Tatsuya bowed and slowed his steps to put more distance from his sister who lashed out at him, internally thankful that they did not notice him zoning out.

* * *

The sun was high in the sky when Lunaire finally had a chance to relax in his room. The style and quality of the furniture in the room were rather high, telltale signs for moderately high class hotel. After making sure that everyone settled in, he fixed his attire slightly before leaving the hotel.

The mental stress he accumulated over the short period of time was catching up to him. Knowing that a good walk would do him some good, he started to wander, going wherever he felt inclined to go.

00000

And there we go another chapter into the story.

It took quite a few days to finish this chapter, because I am quite preoccupied, but I managed to get it done. It is also quite hard to think up how involved should the characters be and how much deviation from the original will be good.

To be honest, I still have to read up more on the Mahouka. I kind of forgot a lot of the tidbit, so forgive me if I take too long.

Wish me luck on the exam.


	9. Chapter 9: At Okinawa

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Sorry for the long gap, hope everyone miss me.

Things have been very busy for me as I spent the past few months to adapt after moving to United States. Getting used to food and weather in addition to going right to school without even a break took a bite out of my life.

Now where were we…?

00000

Although she longed for the freedom of being able to walk outside, there was a certain reason that she was not enjoying it as much as she would like. That certain reason was her own "Ani," Shiba Tatsuya, trailing behind her without dropping his vigilance.

She pondered the implication of her family practice and taking her own brother as "the guardian to a potential next heir to Yotsuba." The practice of using guardian was viewed as perfectly normal by the member of Yotsuba and to an extent, Miyuki herself.

Her brother, Tatsuya, would do his duty to protect his mistress till the very end of his or her life. The only saving from this fate was for her to personally release him from his duty, but she would not do so. The answer would not come even if she were to question why must she confine him to such fate.

To the girl who was consumed by her thought, she suddenly felt and impact, raising her voice and falling backward. Her guardian properly prevented her from roughly hitting the ground.

The girl effortlessly knew that this bump was set up and angrily searched for the culprit. The appearance of the one she was glaring at though, appalled her as she realized the identity of the one who bumped into her

The three youths in front of her was undoubtedly the "Left Bloods," second generation descendants from the American soldiers that used to garrison Okinawa before being reassigned as border conflict intensified. Miyuki recognized them for the notoriety of their unruly behaviors.

Especially after seeing their leering expressions, Miyuki froze up. However, she came to sense after Tatsuya sheltered her behind her back.

In response to their trash talking, Tatsuya dropped the ultimatum.

"Since we have no intention of begging you to mercifully forgive us for bumping into you, turn away from this course of action. For both of our sake."

"Well, people really don't change, do they?" The silver haired youth remarked as he witnessed the scene unfolding in front of him, almost cliché enough that he almost laughed at how foolishly unoriginal way to corner a girl. At the same time, it also made him irritated as seeing a muscular guy cornering a girl as she cowered, left quite an unpleasant aftertaste.

Lunaire was not the justice freak type that indiscriminatingly sticks his neck into each and every trouble that comes his way. It might be due to him spending much of his time with books rather than hot-blooded people. Normally, at this point he would start to formulate plan to defuse the problem. While knocking the guy out in one shot would be very simple and conserve time, since he had nothing better to do with his life currently, going extra step might not be a bad idea.

However, that would be the case if the boy was not present. Lunaire recognized that he was the boy he bumped into at the airport. From the way he moved, anyone who know what they are doing with martial arts would recognized that they boy was more than half-way decent in defending himself. The muscular youth's movement on the other hand was just down right lumbering. Therefore, Lunaire opted to let the kid deal with them.

Even if it sounded cold, Lunaire was a subscriber to the motto "don't fix it if it ain't broke." If the kid would get the job done, might as well let him, less trouble that way. Also, the experience like this would make the kid grew some backbone, if it was not grown already.

His prediction would be fulfilled rather quickly as the boy not only receive a blow, but also dish out a blow that incapacitated the larger guy. Personally, Lunaire found the technique to be rough around the edge, but adequate as seen from the unfortunate example, squirming on the ground.

After taking care of the trash, the black haired boy pulled the girl Lunaire presumed to be his sister by her hands away from the stunned comrade of the downed youth. The direction he chose to walk in coincided with where the silver-haired youth was standing. The sharp blue eyes widen slightly as he trained his eyes on the observing youth, but his steps remain strong as he approached.

"Nice work." Lunaire muttered softly with a friendly smile as the boy passed by before continuing on his way, avoiding the unruly bunch like plague.

After appropriately distance himself from the potential prying eyes, he casted a sensory altering barrier around himself, before leaping off his feet from roof to roof. Although his movement seemed to have no set pattern, Lunaire seemed to be going in a general direction. His surrounding that mostly consisted of buildings started to turn into the tropical forest of Okinawa. With no buildings to continue on, he opted to solemnly walk. Of course, with the assistance of magic, the trek was uneventful.

The youkai magician progressed slowly but steadily and finally came to a stop at a clearing. It was stony area of the cliff overlooking the sea and the setting sun. The warm soft glow of the sun at twilight reminded him of the time he spent with that person. Although not at the place per say, back when he was still in the House of Meister, he used to enjoy the same scenery.

Taking a few steps forward, he went down to one knee at a certain spot and swiped his hand on the sand. Underneath revealed a stone tablet, around the twice the size of a person's palm. The corner of the tablet was framed with intricate cravings. The rest of the stone was smooth and cool to touch. Strangely, the tablet, although seemed to be buried for a long time, showed almost no sign of deterioration, not even the dark stain from the dirt.

Wiping the last of the dirt of the face of the tablet embedded in the ground, Lunaire stared at the carving with cross motif and the words that followed on pale grey stone.

 _Edmund Renas_

 _March 8_ _th_ _, 1932- August 4_ _th_ _, 1998_

 _Laid to eternal rest in the eastern land_

He sucked in his breath, before pulling a metallic object from underneath his shirt. The silver cross was almost a perfect match for the carving on the stone tablet. Its polished surface reflected the light of the twilight as the sun touched the surface of the sea.

"I am back, you know, even after saying that I might not even be back when I decided to go to Gensokyo. And here I am, right in front of your grave I thought I would never set my eyes upon ever again. It seemed that I was quite lucky that fate decided to drop me out here now, a few months before the day you…"

Lunaire clenched his hands tight, but his eyes never left the tombstone.

"Old Edmund, this passed decades, it was fun you know. When I first arrived, I did not know what to expect, living among youkai or whatnot. But unexpectedly, it wasn't so bad. After living for so long, I have a lot of story to tell you know, like you always did back when I was young. I always loved your exaggerated story. It kept me from going nuts from those stress. Guess what, I am now older than you, so I guess I should return the favor…"

Words flowed off his mouth like an unending streamed. Lunaire recounted his experiences living in Gensokyo, sparing no details, from his whacky youkai company, the shrine maiden of paradise and fellow magicians. The way he found happiness, doing what he like, researching and reading all day without caring for the world. The way he learned from Kaguya that for every being, especially those that live long, every present moment will be unique for all eternity as none of the experiences they will feel in the future will be able replace that moment.

Mixing in with the heavy topic, let not mention about Lunaire's love life as the spring still had not grace him with its presence (/3).

"Ah…hell. It is quite late now, isn't it? I never know I can be this emotional. I have to go now. I hope you find your next life well. Don't worry about me." Finally tucking his rosary under his cloth, he stood up and left.

He felt quite clear headed after finally be able to let out some of his pressure. The walk back was comfortable and quiet. Although he could not see the starlight from the brightly glowing city, there was not much he could complain.

* * *

"It was a minor…unfortunate encounter with a young man."

Hearing his younger sister trying to explain to Sakurai-san brought the thought back to the forefront of his mind.

It was definitely him, the silver-haired youth that he met at the airport. The boy left a strong impression on him. As a person that was greatly wary of his surrounding, the boy ranked quite high on his watch list. Malice or not, he was an unknown element. Further than that, there was the strange feeling that he felt when he stared briefly into the eyes. He wondered what it was that unnerved him and gave him such impression. Who was he?

"Tatsuya-san, what is wrong?" Honami noticed the frown that continued to deepen.

"It is nothing to be greatly concern about, Sakurai-san"

"But your face seems to suggest otherwise…"

"…I think that I might be overthinking things a little bit too much. I will be fine. It won't affect my ability as a guardian."

"If you say so…" Honami commented offhandedly and decided that there was something much more pressing for the evening. However, she did file the event into the deep recess of her mind, because it was very rare for her to see Tatsuya disturbed about something.

Tatsuya continued to recall the two encounters with the boy and slightly cursed himself from not looking up the boy with elemental sight. All the information that he could work on was only his appearance and the fact that he seemed to carry unnaturally large amount of luggage, most likely from someone he was travelling with. Tatsuya also note the subtle grace in his movement that most would not notice and also his calmness to violence, most likely someone who experience a fair share of fighting. From there on, he was drawing blank. He made a mental note to observe any other run-in with the silver-haired youth from now. Although it still did not warrant going out of his way to seek him out, next time, he assured himself.

His feet began to carry him back to his inner room, leaving behind Honami and Miyuki to their preparation for the evening social call.

* * *

A clink from the teacup broke the lull silence of the room. The scarlet moon gracefully put down her teacup with her ladylike smile. However, within that smile, Sakuya noticed a hint of other feeling other than content. Having spent many years serving her mistress, the perfect maid could easily grasp the subtle change in Remilia's expressions. In the middle of her sip, Sakuya noticed that her lips quivered slightly and that there was a slight pause before she continued with her act.

"Ojou-sama, is something wrong?"

"Sakuya, as perceptive as always, it seems?"

"Of course, Ojou-sama."

"As expected of my maid…I have this subtle feeling…that something interesting will be happening soon." Remilia sent a subtle look to her maid with the corners of her mouth lifted in amusement.

Sakuya warmly watched over her mistress. It seemed that her mistress will be having her share of special entertainment after all. Although she knew that most entertainment would be, in some shape of form, a trouble, she did not care much. Most residences in Scarlet Devil Mansion would love to have some change of pace. With combined might of Remilia, Patchouli, Lunaire and herself, every problem can be solved. She also could use some change of pace herself.

"I am sure that Ojou-sama will have time to enjoy to your heart content."

"Let's hope that it will be so. I will wait for it in anticipation." Remilia giggled in delight under the warm gaze of her maid.

The vampire was full of energy that was bottled up since arriving in this world. The prospect to release overflowing tension was simply something that she could not have wish for more.

Looking up from her book, she silently gazed outward toward the bed of the suite she was in. She could hear the faint breathing of other two magicians in the room, fast asleep from the trip. Patchouli on the other hand, did not feel tired and continued to read one of the tombs she brought over from the mansion. The night here was quite comfortable to her, albeit a bit hot, though it was not something that cannot be fixed with some minor spell.

She pondered hard on the current circumstance. Underneath her rather emotionless face, she was quite concerned about her predicament. As she continued to read, she found that her focus constantly slipped from the front of her mind and many lines blurred past her mind that should already be very attuned to reading. She tried to run her fingers with the lines, but to no avail. Something was nagging her she thought.

Over the course of her experiences in this new strange world, there were more marvels in the world to explore, but it was quite scary for her to have her experience broaden this much this quickly. Even though the pursuit of magic and science shared the same root to attain comprehension of the law of the world, to see how advance this world was compared to Kappa society left quite an impact.

Feeling that reading any further will have no more benefit, Patchouli decided to turn in for the night. Flipping on the switch to extinguish the light, she silently walked to the bed and tucked herself in, while thinking that the queen size bed was a bit too small for three girls to be sleeping in. That night, Patchouli slept a comfortable dreamless sleep.

00000

Now, we know why Lunaire is here. I wonder what would be revealed in the future.

Sorry if this is a bit slow, but I like writing slow story and really can't help it. Tee Hee :P


	10. Chapter 10: Meanwhile

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Here is another chapter down for the count. I might have neglected some cast, so here is something to balance it out.

Also, I might try something rather ambitious.

00000

The past few days passed by leisurely at Okinawa. However, the same could not be said for the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

The fairies were getting uppity from being locked away, especially now that there were not as many people to conduct their mischief upon. After the Lunaire and other residents left for Okinawa, they had been nothing but trouble for Koakuma. Evading casual barrage of icicles, chasing after stolen books, deter their attempts to get out of the barrier field around the mansion became common activities for the little devil.

For most of the day, Koakuma spent her time in paranoia, keeping sight on her peripheral and constantly sending familiars to patrol and track down the troublemakers.

Today was not any different. The cute little wings on her hair and back drooped down as she hung like a piece of laundry in the air above countless bookshelves in the library. One would mistake her for sleeping at first glance if she was not moving in a general direction. She was exempted from several of her duty to take care of the fairies that had been let out of their confine, thinking that she would have easier time, although Koakuma would argue that her previous work was a lot less taxing to her physical and mental health. It would hover, certainly be easier if Meiling spent less time sleeping rather than keeping guard of the boundary. The only saving grace was that during the rare time that she was awake, she would tend to Flandre. Koakuma shuddered at the thought of taking care of Flandre, because of the sheer unpredictability that she exhibited.

Sifting through the images that her familiars sent her, Koakuma found them on the far end of the library, trying to inconspicuously steal another book. Good thing, she thought, that they did not know how she was covertly tracking their every actions with her mini bat familiars. Tiredly mumbled her spells, she conjured small magic circle loaded with stun magic and flew in their direction.

After a few moments of few blasts of stun magic here and there, she managed to wrestle and place the book back where it belonged. During that moment, the fairies already scampered off somewhere. Thinking that it would be a while for them to try anything else, Koakuma went to the desk she usually worked in as Patchouli assistance and plopped down on the chair. Breathing a small sigh, she drifted off into comfortable sleep, never knew that her action would lead to something else.

* * *

"Ouch ouch ouch!" The blue haired fairy groaned, still numbed by being rapidly bombarded with stunning magic. Her olive haired friend continued to support her from her side as Cirno's wings did not properly recover her ability to fly.

This could be attributed to Koakuma prowess that grew after Lunaire began to give her tips about her fighting style. She took to it quite well, albeit her move did not carry the same vigor.

Using her magic control to lay down an interlocking zone of fire, she slowed Cirno down before making a feint by releasing concentrated bursts of high power stun bolts. Cocky as she was, Cirno still boasted enough skill to both cope with suppressive fire and the subsequent large burst. However, she could not hope to deal with Koakuma who flapped her wings to rapidly close in like bird of prey. Before the poor fairy knew it, all she could see was a hand that almost completely engulfed her view. After closing in, Koakuma simply casted a simple light spell to further daze the fairy. The flash that usually does nothing but illuminate was quite effective when blasted right in front of the eyes, especially to an unprepared foes. To the fairy that completely lost her vision and flailing meaninglessly midair, Koakuma positioned her other hand and mercilessly unleashed the previous high power burst right into her midsection. A truly sure kill combo if taken unguarded by a fairy, Koakuma never realized that she had this tendency to completely crush her opponent when given the chance. It might her outlet for her nature as a devil, because otherwise she never acted like one.

Taking unadulterated high-powered bolts like that, it is no wonder for Cirno's current state. But alas, nothing can keep this little fairy down for long.

"Gah! That devil, to think that she did this to the strongest me…I need a rematch!"

"I think you have enough for now, Cirno-chan." Daiyousei appeared apprehensive and exasperated. She wondered when this friend would stop proclaiming that she is the strongest.

"It is because I am the strongest. I cannot lose to that devil."

"Hai, Hai, let's stop at that." The more diligent fairy of the two continued to steer her temporally disabled friend down the corridor to the room Remilia assigned to them.

Although it was quite restrictive as they were not allowed out of the mansion, the olive-haired fairy did not exactly mind all that much. The place was accommodating enough. So far, the fairy maids in the mansion were very friendly, but sometimes not very helpful.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

Daiyousei never expected that the situation would turn out this way. It started with Cirno finally deciding to once again take on challenge of venturing into Scarlet Devil Mansion that stood imposing near the misty lake. With Meiling sleeping on her duty as always, they managed to slip in undisturbed. When the fairies thought they were in the clear, their visions were enveloped by pure white.

Before they knew it, everything felt different, draining to put it into word. For the fairies that represent some aspect of nature, the low ambience mana will be great detriment to their wellbeing, so it was not that strange for them to be almost incapacitated from sudden exposure. They tried to limp around, but were quickly restrained by brightly glowing rope as the figure landed before her. Catching a glimpse at his face, she was surprised to see Lunaire.

"Lunaire…san? Why?" She squeaked.

"Ah..um? I am…sorry." Internally, Lunaire was screaming for it to stop. The eyes of a kicked puppy were so devastating to him and the experiences he had will never temper him against such assault.

"It's okay. Please help…"

Her voice trailed off as she collapsed on top of her friend in heap on the ground. Daiyousei did not know how long she went out, but the scene she woke up to must be one of the most memorable to her.

* * *

Daiyousei still shivered whenever she remembered the scarlet devil. The first time she met her, she felt as if she was a frog in the face of a snake. Especially her scarlet eyes that seemed to glow depended on the angle viewed and her smug smile, they unnerved her greatly. Although she was calmed down by the amiable, but slightly prideful persona, Daiyousei still maintained a healthy level of respect and fear toward the owner of this mansion. This was one of the reasons that she tried, unsuccessfully of course, to rein her impulsive friend in addition to her usual nature to avoid troubles.

Lost in thought, she found herself in front of their room and her friend almost completely recovered. She would be happy to see Cirno getting well, save for her next sentences.

"Chance! When that devil is not looking, let's go outside, Dai-chan!"

"Wait Cirno-chan! They said that we shouldn't go…"

"Ha ha, there is nothing that can stop this strongest me from anything. Let's go?"

"Wah!" Taking the moment when Daiyousei was flustered, Cirno sprung to life and pulled her friend right to the window. Her confused friend could do nothing before the window was unlatched and their bodies send careening into the evening sky.

The slightly chilly air greeted them as they were spinning in the air. With their bodies clung together, Daiyousei appeared to be more and more disoriented as Cirno energetically let of the cheer.

"We are out!" Cirno screamed, following by unintelligible laughter.

"Hue?!" Finally snapping out of her daze, her golden butterfly-like wings fluttered open and righted her posture.

With her head pointed in the right direction once again, Daiyousei found that they were floating a few meters above the tree line. Although she already knew this, the sight of the expansive forest that replaced the misty lake instilled a sense of awe and fear.

"Gah, I am still angry at who decided to fill my lake in. I suppose we should find someone to dig it back up, right, Dai-chan?"

"I don't think it work that way, Cirno-chan?"

"Then how exactly does it supposed to work then?"

"I…don't really know" Daiyousei then turned toward the forest below, pulling her face into a light frown.

A moment of silence passed between the two. Daiyousei eyes wavered between her friend and the forest. She knew how much her friend was fond of the lake, even if it did not appear obvious. Before she could mutter her encouragement though, Cirno's eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Let's explore! We have never seen this forest before; we have to claim it before others! Wahaha." Releasing her hands that were clinging to her friend, Cirno spread her wings and arms wide, trying to appear big and authoritative.

"Cirno-chan, I don't think that is a good…"

"Don't worry Dai-chan. I am after all the strongest! Let's go!"

"Fue?!" Letting her rather cute voice slipped after she was dragged unilaterally by Cirno, the more sensible fairy let out a sigh.

* * *

With a tiny gasp, the black haired girl spun around for the umpteenth time. Her eyes darted around restlessly toward a certain direction.

"What is wrong Mizuki?" A cheery voice called her out from behind.

"It is nothing." The girl turned to face the man who called her out.

"There is no way it is nothing. You have been on edge for the past hour. If there is anything, you can tell papa you know." A man of average height closed in with worry clear in his eyes. Finally stopping near her, he bended down slightly to match her height and craned his neck in the direction she was facing.

"Mizuki is as reserve as always. Mom and dad are troubled you know. You don't rely on us all that much. Would it hurt to at least let us help?" Another lady with black hair and gentle eyes slightly adjusted her backpack before coming to her daughter side.

"…I don't know…I feel…I don't know how to explain…strange."

"Strange? Do you feel anything, dear?" His slightly narrowed eyes scanned the surrounding.

"Not really…Mizuki, do your eyes feel differently?" The woman pondered before focusing her attention at Mizuki.

"Is that so? We just bought these glasses not so long ago. The doctor said that it should hold up for a long time…"

"I don't think that there is anything wrong with my glasses, but…I might just be anxious."

"Oh, I understand! Aren't you cute? My little daughter is anxious for our family outing in a long time." The man chuckled.

"That's true. It really has been a while since the last time we get to spend quality time together."

"It is pretty much the reason that this trip is quite elaborate. I picked the place with great view. I hope you can relax and enjoy it, Mizuki."

"Yatsugatake-Chuushin Kougen Quasi-National Park, is it? It was quite a distance from our home, but I guess it was worth it. I heard that lava plateau is a sight to see."

"Hahaha! Good taste, isn't it...ouch" His boast was interrupted by an accurate chop to the head. The man rubbed his wound comically.

"You are getting ahead of yourself." His wife quipped with mock stern eyes.

Mizuki looked on warmly at her parents loving relationship. She would also like to one day be in a relationship like them.

"By the way, the food is ready. Just so you know."

"Ara, you sure you did not burn anything?"

"Wah, that rude?! I am rather skillful with cooking out." The only response he got was a collective laughter from his family.

The family leisurely made their way toward the campfire and the source of the scent that tantalizingly whet up their appetite. Grilled salted fish seemed to be on the menu. Following the boisterous "itadakimasu" cry of her father with her softer version, she dug in. Her thought that was wandering for the source of her unease melted from the salty and slightly seasoned meal.

* * *

After their meal, the happy family decided to turn in early. The fatigue from their road trip and hiking finally caught up to them as the husband and wife collapsed like logs. The only person awake in their tent large tent was Mizuki.

The feeling that was plaguing Mizuki since the evening did not disappear and when she finally had some privacy in her own mind without any disturbance, the sense came back in full force. Since the last time she remembered, it was even closer to her this time around. However, rather than unease from the unexplainable feeling being closer, she actually felt much more relaxed. She did not feel anything other than that there was something there earlier, but she now got a clearly impression. The feeling she was receiving somehow could only be explained by the girl as innocence and bottomless energy.

Curious as to what could possibly radiate such feeling or if she was going to lose her mind, Mizuki rose and steeled herself. Slowly unzipped the tent, she slipped out silently and was greeted with the flat ground illuminated by moonlight and dotted sparsely by other tents. She panned her vision around, looking for something that could be the source of her feeling.

She finally stopped to look at the forest bordering the campsite. Mizuki could not explain the sensation, but she seemed to be compelled to go toward that direction. She was curious, terribly curious and had to see it for herself. The petite girl went back into the tent for flashlight and her feet started to carry her closer to the forest.

Normally, Mizuki was never a person to be reckless, but it seems that for the person with high pushion sensitivity were quite susceptible for their feelings to be influenced by the aura, especially from the true creature of magic such as fairies. However, Mizuki would not come to know of that fact until later.

00000

I would greatly appreciate it if everyone read the author's note and give me some feedback on my writing.

I just found out that I actually enjoyed rereading my own story. It has been a while since I started it, so early chapter started to fade from my mind. However, all the fun things aside, I found that the quality of my writing dropped quite a little bit and I found it harder to acquire idea. I will tell everyone that I am quite sorry for this, but I will try harder.

I will NOT rewrite this story just yet. Actually, not in any foreseeable future as the thing I hate the most in fanfiction is the feeling when the author decides to rewrite story. I am not blaming them for wanting to rewrite, but sometimes it is quite frustrating to have to wait for a LONG time until you can get your continuation to the story. I don't want to do this to any of you guys who read my fic, so yay, NO REWRITE.


	11. Chapter 11: The Cat's Away

Hello everyone, ITalkToSky here.

Now to start off, thanks of the reviews. I greatly appreciate the encouragement. Those mean a lot to me.

This might be the story when I am going at it. The story will probably start to diverge from the original story, but will stick to the general outline of the plot. I am not sure if you will like this, but here I go.

For some weird reason, I am totally in the mood to write.

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"Ne, Cirno-chan, this is a bad idea. It is already dark out. I think we should return…"

"Do you think this strongest is afraid of darkness? We have already spent many nights out already, haven't we?"

"This is different. I don't know what is happening…Lunaire-san and the others wouldn't tell me, so…We really should…"

"Doesn't that sound like an adventure? There could be more type of frogs that I can freeze, like that giant one I met last time! Now, is there Mr. Frog around here?" The ice fairy hummed at the prospect of acting upon her strange compulsion to freezing frogs that exasperated Suwako to no end.

"Wait!"

"Follow me!" Giggled wildly, the ice fairy weaved through the gaps between columns of tree.

"Mou" Daiyousei was not happy at her friend recklessness, yet again could not bring herself to be heavier handed on her longtime friend. Flapping her butterfly-like wings powerfully, she followed Cirno with slightly slower speed in case she ran into something.

Forest navigation was never a problem for the fairies as they typically live in the area covered by forest anyway. Although they were not the most skilled at maneuvering and utilizing woodland terrain to their advantage, their flight was hardly slowed even by the presence of dense trees.

Daiyousei was praying inside that they did not run into something that they would regret later. Probably, figured out that Cirno would not stop, Daiyousei accelerated and tried to catch her friend who proved to be rather nimble.

"Hahaha! This is fun."

Felling silent, the greater fairy concentrated on her flight, focusing not only to avoid trees but also for the shortest path to cut her hyper energetic friend. Daiyousei knew that competing again Cirno in term of output will be rather unproductive, so using tree trunks as platform, she tried to kick off them occasionally to make up for her slower speed compared to the blue fairy.

The distance between the two had shrunken slowly. Unfortunately, Daiyousei's breathing grew ragged. Her wings felt numbed, which was clearly displayed when her turn became less precise and elegant. Glaring at the fluttering pairs of icy wings, Daiyousei felt her limit nearing.

The chasing fairy thought that she would have a chance, but seeing her friend speeding up, the troublesome ice fairy decided to join in with the game of tag. The movement on the ice fairy side was coarse, making shaky turns and sudden stops. However, Cirno made up for it with her sheer output of her power and fast reflex that she picked up from challenging everyone around her.

"Cirno-chan, please don't go any farther than this!" Finally Daiyousei gathered what courage she had to raise her voice against her friend. If Lunaire and others could see her know, he would think that the sun will rise in the west tomorrow. It was highly uncharacteristic to say the least for this soft-spoken fairy to yell.

"Why? This is new place. Isn't it just exciting to explore? You also love that, Dai-chan."

"But this is not…the place that we used to live…it doesn't feel right. Cirno-chan, let's go back, at least for now."

"Come on, please. When we go back, it will be so boring again with nothing to do but play pranks on that she-devil." Cirno crossed her arms, hovering down close to the ground.

"I am sure there will be something to do. It is scary out here."

"But…"

"Excuse me…are you lost? Where are your…" The new voice joined in, but the endings of her sentence was drowned by her gasp.

* * *

She started to regret it more and more. Convincing herself that she wouldn't wander too far, she was now lost in the disorienting forest. The navigation wouldn't be so hard if it was during daytime, but nighttime naturally made everything the same. Her flashlight was the only thing keeping her from total blindness.

The impulse she felt to explore evaporated, replaced by desperation and fear. All sort of terrifying thought started to plague her.

Pulling her feet up to climb over the stump, she briefly wondered if she could survey the area using treetop, but deciding that the risk of falling was too high. She was never an athletic girl and the walk was tiring her immensely, so climbing right now would be too ambitious. She did the next best thing and turned off her flashlight, looking for any glimmer of light that might signify people.

Before her body stilled briefly as she scanned her surrounding while praying that there was something she could latch onto. Unknown to her, the prayer was answered in the way she could never imagine when she caught onto a bright spot of light that seemed to zip through the woods.

"A…camper? This deep in the forest?" She pondered briefly, but dismissed the though in favor of chasing after the light. Whatever it was, it stayed too long to be just her imagination, so she grasped onto probably her sole lifeline out of the forest.

While clumsily chasing after the light and tripping over bare roots, she realized that the light was moving very fast, almost too fast. That was not the most peculiar aspect of the light as it was also fluttering up and down erratically. However, desperation stopped such strange phenomena from registering in her mind as she soldier forward to reach the light.

Gathering her second wind, her uneasy steps did not bother her. The speed that she travel easily outstrip when she was wandering around. Mizuki aimed for the front of the light as she knew she had little hope to catch them from behind.

The distance between her and the light closed quickly, before she noticed that it was actually 2 sources of light. What she did not expect, however, was that it was accompanied by a very youthful voices, one very boisterous and another chiding the first. The lights also stopped and seemed to hover midair.

Her eyes locked to the lights, she approached carefully, trying to grasp onto the content of her discussion. However, most of it did not strike her as the intensity and the feeling associated with the light. As she went closer, the brighter the light and the feelings became. She could also start to see colors. On was bright blue and felt frigid, but contrastingly energetic. Another source was dimmer and contained a mixture of pale soothing green.

Finnaly rounding the trees that blocked her vision, she came face to face with the lights and to her surprise, there were children. The light seemed to radiate from the children very being. Looking around and noting the absence of adults, she couldn't register anything another than the children was lost just like her, while inwardly fumed at the irresponsible parents that would let them wander this far.

"Excuse me…are you lost? Where are your…" Not knowing how to start the conversation suddenly with the lost children, she tried to appear calm. However, she lost her voice in between as she spotted wings on their back, initially hidden by their blinding splendor.

* * *

The two figures stopped their argument and regarded the newcomer carefully. The ice fairy was brimmed with curiosity, while the other one was laced with concern.

"Oh, a human, this deep in the forest?"

"Why are you out here in the forest at night? Most man-eating youkai are active at night, so you really should not be out here?" The olive haired girl, sounded almost unsure, asked the new girl who tentatively approached them.

Suddenly, the face of the black haired intruder was filled with shock as she backed away slightly.

"Wings?" She squeaked

"Haha, you were awed by my powerful splendor, weren't you?"

"I don't think that is an issue right now, Cirno-chan."

Daiyousei was stumped. She was warned before my Lunaire that she should not let herself be seen by anyone outside the mansion just yet, and here she was staring at one. The strangeness of the girl's clothing did not help and serve to emphasize her mistake. She carefully approached the strange girl, leveling her flight so that their heights were relatively equal.

"Are you alright?" Daiyousei asked tentatively, noticing the surprise and fear plastered on her face.

"Y-yes…um…it might sound…rude, but…what are…" The black-haired girl trailed off.

"Is this the first time you have seen fairies?" Daiyousei asked with her softest tone. This was not the first experience for her as she had seen this reaction from many younger children from human village, but seeing one from a girl this age surprised her slightly.

"Fairies?"

"Yes, fairies…You must have heard about them from your parents, didn't you?"

"Yes, but…they were in fairytales and stories. They don't exactly exist aside from that."

"I don't really know what you really meant by that." Daiyousei turned to her boisterous friend, who was throwing tantrum from being ignored.

"Cirno-chan, we are returning."

"Ehhh, it was just getting good."

"No. Didn't Lunaire-san also say we should be seen? There is also this troubled person." Daiyousei brought in Lunaire, hoping that would convince her friend. The two fairies really did like that enigmatic, silver-haired magician, after all he often played with them.

"What are you going to do? Are you lost?"

"Yes, I am lost but…"

"Then do you want to go with us? We don't really know where you came from, but Koakuma might be able to help you with you trouble. She is quite reliable after all."

The girl in peculiar clothes seemed to waver a little bit in daze as she tried very hard to process what she heard and saw. Never in her wildest dream that she thought she would meet a real fairies, but here they were fluttering their wings in front of her. Before she could snap out of her reverie and answered, the louder fairy interrupted her.

"Come on! You said return, so let's go Dai-chan."

Mizuki thought that they were leaving, but after bellowing such, the ice fairy rounded behind her and unceremoniously pulled on one of her shoulder. Before she could say anything else, the other fairy also came to her side.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you." Daiyousei tried to give a reassuring smile, like she did with many children that ran into her and freaked out before.

"Wait!" Ignoring her pleas, the two fairies lifted off beyond the trees line.

Daiyousei looked around before spotting the spire of the mansion protruding through the trees, safely tucked in from prying eyes by dense forest, valleys and mountain. She pointed the direction and said a few words to her companion before they flew off into the chilly night sky.

* * *

She could not help but felling relief at the solid ground beneath her feet, but it was overshadowed by the sight of an elegant mansion before her eyes. It was larger than any mansion she had seen featured in any magazine. The mansion was a European-style mansion with oddly small number of windows. The mansion also housed an entire clock tower inside. This all was complemented by the beautifully and meticulously tended garden in the walled perimeter.

When they landed in front of the gate, the green-haired fairy broke off to say a few words to the gatekeeper who seemed to have woken just a few moments prior. The gatekeeper, who seemed to go by Meiling, reluctantly opened the gate. Mizuki was slightly surprise by her Chinese appearance that contrasted with the style of the mansion she guarded.

Mizuki was guided by gentle tugging of her sleeves through series of hallways. The poor girl wondered how a simple impulse to explore got her to explore this mansion. Her curious wide eyes darted from decorations to decorations. The front entrance had very impressive twin stairways, which screamed of royalty. She wondered who could have built such a grand mansion far in the national park. Even if she was not an expert, from the sheer size of the building, the quality of the materials and the decoration, she concluded that the owner of the mansion must be dirty rich.

She glanced at the fairies. She knew from her observation that they were acting quite like children with the ice fairies being younger mentally. They were polite enough during her guide and she found them quite endearing. Their smile was quite enough to lift her downed mood, even if she still felt a little bit tense.

She was bought before a big wooden door that seemed to exude a presence deserving of respect. Strangely enough, the door was smoothly opened by someone as small as the green-hair fairy. She was ushered in and before long the door was closed behind her.

What she saw behind the door was a vast library with tall bookcases lined rows after rows. She wondered just how many libraries in the world would have such an extensive collection of books just like this one. It was common knowledge that many literatures in the world was digitalized so the modern library now have much less accessible paperback materials, which contrast greatly to the general belief of the past era that library must be filled with bookcases.

With passing glance, she could gather that the books were old, but in relatively good shape. She was not surprise however, because whoever could afford such mansion would no doubt be able to pay for such a massive collection of antique books.

Mizuki was led to a small modest desk that seemed to sit in the middle of this library. Although the desk should look quite small, the impression was dashed by the sheer amount of books lined atop of it. The books was so high that it obscure the face of the person behind that Mizuki only knew that there was a person from the shadow casted by the table lamp.

"Koakuma-san, Koakuma-san, please wake up?"

"Yesh, ah…Daiyousei, why are you waking me up this late?" Her voice slurred about bit from being suddenly woken up.

"We…have a guest. She said she was lost, so I think that you might be able to…um…help her."

"Is that so? The devil slowly rose of her seat, raising her arms high in the air to stretch her stiff back. Feeling ready to tackle whatever problem these fairies could throw her with, what she saw beyond her desk was not quite what she expected.

00000

And there it is done. I think I might milk a little bit too many detail from this part.

Sorry for the cliffhanger, but well Touhou side was busted. Mizuki found out and just when the main cast was out on a vacation. What could possibly come out of this? Oh and don't worry, I will resolve this issue with Mizuki before focusing back on the main cast in Okinawa.

As for anyone who asked for timeline, Touhou cast arrived a few mouth before August 2092. The event of the story now progress into August. As for where this event would be in the canon, around August of this year, Tatsuya would for the first time unleash his strategic magic, Material Burst in Okinawa. This year also was when Mayumi was still a first year student at the first magic high school.


	12. Chapter 12: The Will to Kill

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Time to advance the plot; I have been stalling for a while for the main plot. It is productive still. I swear, the part about Mizuki was totally intended. Don't worry the part about Mizuki actually happened and not a spinoff and I will be continuing on that line after we returned from Okinawa. After the battl…*ahem* correction…massacre would be appropriate.

I am still quite peeved about how to write a fight scene, but we don't always need a plan. Full steam ahead!

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 _ **August 11**_ _ **th**_ _ **2092, Okinawa**_

A few days had passed, uneventfully, as the party enjoyed themselves immensely. Everyone was having entertainment of their own and sometimes to the expense of another, most often Sakuya and Lunaire.

Alice and Patchouli, the more reserve members of the group found themselves with a frustrating limited amount of books they could immerse it. After all, there was not much that could be expected from a travel location. Academic papers relating to magic and encyclopedia probably should not be there. However, they still could find something they could dig out. Alice was particularly interested in the fashion sense and thinking about possibly making new dresses for her dolls. Patchouli was more apathetic, but still showed some interest in technology.

As for someone like Marisa and Remilia, they were struggling to keep themselves on the ground. Zipping around to see whatever attracted their eyes like children, to the fierce denial from the vampire. Lunaire asked them nicely to keep their magic in check, so Marisa tried her best not to fly and Remilia tried to not use her flickering movement. They were quite shocked that the human on this side still had not managed to discover, or perhaps rediscover would be more appropriate, the method to achieve magical flight.

Not to mention Sakuya, Reisen and Lunaire were also enjoying themselves nicely. Apart from the time when he had to clean up the messes someone made. It was quite a good lull for him actually. But it was not meant to last…

Although the pitch was quite different, Lunaire still was familiar with the siren sound, typically associated with emergency and was currently blaring from the television.

"An invasion is underway from the West Sea."

"There has been no declaration of war."

"The attacking force is a fleet of ballistic missile submarines."

"Currently, there are semi-submerged and attacking the Kerama Islands."

The rest seemed to fly through his mind as something started to occupy it. The feeling was unmistakably rage, mixed with some melancholy. Even after the time of his departure a century ago, there were still wars. However, he still had to laugh at himself a little for thinking that there would be any change. However, he was furious. He could vaguely understand that there was nothing that could be help as the attacking force had no way to know of the incidence that happened a hundred years ago. But the point still stood that they dared to disturb the burial site of his fatherly figure.

After they were intercepted by his sister that resulted in the death of his butler, Lunaire bid Edmund an eternal peaceful rest. No matter how unreasonably it was, Lunaire could only register these people with nothing less of trespasser that deserved to be taught a grave lesson.

"Time to knock on doors." Lunaire silently muttered. He nearly proceeded to go out of his room to loudly bang on his adjacent rooms, but then realizing that he had telepathic magic.

"Everyone, did you see the warning."

"I noted it and was about to contact you." Sakuya replied almost immediately with a professional tone.

"I have also seen it. We seemed to have been caught out in the middle of the war." Hardened voice belonged to Reisen. It seemed that her soldier side did not disappear completely.

"What?! What is happening?" Marisa chimed in.

The rest of the response came in as Lunaire summarily asked them to gather in his single room. It seemed that the confidence to leave them to their own accord backfired on him quite spectacularly. Since arriving here, most knew the routine enough that they would not completely do something stupid. On that assumption, he led them go to wherever they wished, as long as they did not cause trouble. The most problematic thing that could arise was that they somehow made a mess larger than they could manage. He did not expect such a thing as war.

* * *

Waiting patiently, his friends started arriving one after another. There face reflected the emotion they each felt. Most were confused, especially for those born in Gensokyo. The grim expression, however, adorned the faces of those who had seen the outside world before. Sakuya, Reisen, Remilia and Lunaire all had seen the act that was not normally permitted during fighting in Gensokyo, killing.

Although the act of predation, which in most case involve killing, was not frown upon except by human, killing in a dispute over something was another matter in Gensokyo. On this topic, Lunaire certainly was uncomfortable being served human, so he made a deal with Remilia that as long as she and her sister were fed properly with his blood, they will stop hunting humans. It greatly helped that they both have light appetite. Though special circumstances can be made and Lunaire would certainly opt out of the table, along with Patchouli. Youkai magicians probably are one of the closer kinds to human.

Regardless, the fights in Gensokyo were regulated under Spell Cards Rules. Under this regulation, brute force ceased to be the major factor. Most importantly, the Youkai victor may not kill his or her opponent. This was not the case if the human won. But since then, killing was now generally frowned as one side usually would admit their defeat. It became customary for both sides to gather in a tea party to rectify their differences. Therefore, there were many here who had never actually experience the act of deliberate killing.

"As far as we know, we have a situation at hand." Lunaire tried to diplomatically opened the topic.

"Somehow we are in the middle of war and there is a force invading this island." Sakuya, picking her queue, continued professionally.

"Wait, when did that happened?!" Marisa blurted loudly.

"So that's why people became quite erratic suddenly." Alice softly followed.

"It happened quite recently actually and I have been spreading out my senses ever since It seems that there are small fights cropping up throughout this whole island. That, however, is not the least of our concerns. West of this island, there seems to be a clump of human-like signatures. They are most likely the main invasion forces." Lunaire began to report the situation he could gather when he casted his wide area surveillance magic. He looked around to see mixed reaction.

"War? Isn't that fun event, like The Great Fairy War? We should totally join in and…"

"Marisa…it's not like that." Alice reservedly chided her friend, who finally noticed that the rest was not amused.

"Unlike The Great Fairy War, Marisa, humans fight this war not fairies. And unlike fairies, humans permanently die." Lunaire answered coldly.

Marisa gulped, having never seen her friend this serious before. His vestige seemed to radiate caution with unhealthy amount of anger. His gaze was steely and focused, which fitted right in with most members in this room.

"Well…let's give her a break, Lunaire-san. More than that, we should consider our ways of leaving this island. Would flying be a viable option?" Trying to ease tension, Reisen tried to focus on the more pressing issue.

"That's right…forgive me Marisa. I…didn't have a very good experience in the war, especially not here." He sighed deeply, but seemed to spat the end of his sentence out.

"Why here?"

"…The man whom I considered my father died here. His grave was here, on this very island." Lunaire went silent.

"I am sorry…"

"Don't worry about it, Reisen-san. And to give answer to your question, yes, flying will be a viable way out of this island as long as we apply our cloaking magic properly."

"Then I suggest we leave immedi…"

"I will hold off on that thought, our friend here seems to be thinking otherwise." The one interrupting the rabbit was none other than Remilia, who noticing the agitated state from Lunaire.

"I agree that you all should be leaving and head back to the mansion. It seems that our outing is a little bit long so someone decided to give us a parting party." Lunaire said, much to Reisen's relief.

"But…" Remilia continued cryptically.

"I will stay. I have some business to settle…and it is personal." He said in the voice that would chill any to the core.

"Then it is settled. I will stay too."

"I could not hope to stop you, Ojou-sama. But are you sure? It is midday outside."

"I don't care. Although I hate sun, it is not like I could not tolerate it, no matter how unpleasant it may be."

"Understood." Sakuya solemnly bowed.

"I also cannot convince you, right Remilia? But why, this is my personal fight?" Lunaire inquired.

"Well, it is quite rare for a chance for me to actually fight." Remilia answered and raised quite a frown from the magician.

"That can't be the only reason…or do you really like fighting."

"I can't really deny liking fighting, but I cannot exactly leave you to fight alone now, can I? Friends are what I appreciate and you are not an exception. It's like shooting two birds with one stone. I get to do some minor stretching, while helping you with you issue. A win-win situation, isn't it?" Her red eyes fluttered close before she opened them to stared at his blue orbs, challengingly.

"Well…I give up. It is no use to stop you. That's for certain. Do not go overboard then. As for you Sakuya…it's a foolish question."

"Of course, I am where my mistress decides to be." Sakuya replied with her blue eyes staring straight at him.

"You guys are crazy. Why are we fighting them when it is not our business?!" Reisen busted into the conversation.

"Because it is my personal business, Reisen-san. They dared to attack and disturb this land, which rested Edmund. Although I would not say that it warranted certain death, but if they refused to surrender…I will not guarantee their lives." He turned to her.

"Lunaire-san…"Reisen was startled, a little at his words, but mostly from his eyes, which devoid of any of the usual warm. The only feeling left in them was frigid coldness that pieced into her being, spooking her rabbit ears a little.

"The rest of you…fly back to the mansion. This bird will guide you." He turned to address the rest and after flicking his right hand, an iridescence blue-green clump of light seemed to be expelled out. It quickly gained substance midair and formed into the shape of a glowing sparrow. It was clear to everyone that this was the bird he used as a standard disposable familiar.

The rest were struggling silently. But before it could become too chocking, the purple haired magician raised her voice.

"Then I will stay too. I cannot let you and Remilia be out there, fighting to death alone. Besides, I have devised quite a variety magic that has yet to be tested. After all, it is something that even Marisa will not fit the bill." The person in question suddenly shuddered as the memories of Patchouli casting something on her were mostly unpleasant.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Reisen bellowed. Inside, she was in turmoil and frustrated from not being able to stop her friends and acquaintances from jumping into a war.

"I guess I cannot take you offer, Lunaire. Since almost all of us decided to stay, I can't exactly just leave."

"Alice, this is war. Do you even know what you are walking in to?"

"Yes, of course. Although I have not killed anyone yet, I am…to be honest I am not really prepared to."

"Then all the more reason you should not come."

"We are all in this together, and by that I mean that we are not in Gensokyo. We have to stick together. I have the resolve to do what is needed…"

"This is not needed. I said that it was personal, didn't I?"

"Alice…you are not being yourself." Marisa tried to snap her friend, who was growing more agitated, out of it.

"Then Alice, if you are prepared for it…I will have you unseal your grimoire and stop holding back" After sighing deeply in annoyance, he delivered his words and glared challengingly at Alice.

"It is not needed for something like…"

"I will not dispute as it probably is not needed and neither do I question your ability. But this is battlefield and you will get kill if you walk into one with such half-baked effort. Even if you make it out of this one alive, I don't want it to be a habit. If you cannot possibly bring yourself to be serious, then I cannot allow you in the field. I am prepared to knock you out, but it is for you own good. Please understand." Lunaire resolutely delivered his ultimatum. The message was clear, fight seriously or don't at all.

"…" Alice tried to argue, but was stuck. She knew she was not prepared to take lives, not unless it was pure necessity. And if she was honest to herself, she cannot bring herself to believe that avenging grudge was one of the necessities.

"Reisen, please tend to them and make sure they get back to the mansion in one piece. I will have some housekeeping to do." He sharply rose from his seat, not before noticing a slight smirk from Sakuya.

"And Alice, it is not like I have anything against you. Those who decided to stay all have some experiences for this. There will be time for you to see this dark side personally, but I don't think it is now. Don't worry, we will be back soon. Although Alice, I think you should find a way to relieve you stress, it seems that you tension is a bit high. It must have been getting to you. Suddenly found yourself out here." He strained to put up a smile, but it was quite hard, considering his anger raring to be unleashed.

Lunaire, accompanied with the original residence of the scarlet devil mansion, exited the room and prepared to once again experience the carnage.

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Phew, that was done.

Tell me what you think in the review. The next chapter will be the massacre commencing in full force. Everyone might be forgetting something, but I think I did mention in the earlier author's note that the character from Touhou will be overpowered. Since they are the crystallization of magic that traced back for millennia, there power and development will not be outshined by something concocted for the last hundred years. Also, I found that the chance of having Ten Master Clan meeting an organization that outclass them in magical might to be very interesting and appealing.

Signing out.


	13. Chapter 13: Battle of Okinawa I

Hello again, ITalkToSky here.

And today on episode 13 of…who am I kidding. Well here comes the action. Don't blame me, but this is my first experience writing some action, so please bear with me here.

There will be killing and lots of it.

Btw, guys, the part when Sakuya entered. I mean the whole part within the after the part when transport unloaded the troops was written on paper. I have different writing habit on paper, so tell me what you think about it. Many chapters after this will be written no paper first too.

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"Hmm…it is quite spread out. That and one big cluster coming ashore." Standing on the rooftop of a resort, Lunaire surveyed the area. His eyes were closed as there weren't any need to rely on sight anyway.

The building he was on was not the tallest and certainly did not provide the proper vantage point over the whole battle. But conversely, not many could see him either, while he could pinpoint their location just fine with his magic.

"How should we proceed?" Sakuya asked with perfectly flat tone.

"Hmm…whoever planning this attack sent in a group of guerilla to disrupt whatever force dispatched to defend this area. There numbers are dying down, but I am sure we can help them with that." Dropping down light humor, Lunaire let out a rather grim smile.

"Certainly." The tone from the maid still stayed perfectly professional.

"This is getting very amusing." Remilia remarked as she strained her listening to hear many dry cracks of gunshots and explosions echoing from afar.

"Our main problem though, is there main force that is coming ashore. Well, rather than a problem, it is more of a nuisance…Sakuya, sorry, but I don't think you are suited for open combat. So I will have you comb the city and take out any aggressor. Take Patchouli to support you. Make sure she is safe. Oh, and don't worry about your Remilia, she is in good hands. Start from afar and then work your way toward that beach" Finally decided on his moves, he relayed his ordered to Sakuya.

"Understood. I wish you good luck." Sakuya bowed.

"Thank you. You as well…" Lunaire nodded slightly to Patchouli.

The silver haired maid and the magician accompanying her turned around and left through their preferred method. Sakuya simply used her timepiece to accomplish pseudo-teleportation, while Patchouli adopted a more orthodox method by flying. The outlines quickly fade away as they wormed their way through the complex roads of modern city.

"Now there are only us left. You sure this is not a good time to confess?"

"Surely you jested, Remilia. You knew that children are not exactly…hmm…in my meal plan. If you know what I mean." Continuing on her jab, he let of his own that seemed to hit squarely at her sore spot.

"I am not a child."

"Hahaha." Lunaire burst out laughing. It seemed that Remilia's charisma seemed to break at the slightest mention of her appearance of brat.

In her favorite pink dress and mob cap, the fuming vestige of the vampire was quite amusing and endearing to Lunaire, so he kept poking fun of her on this issue. Remilia pouting also was an interesting sight to see, but he digressed.

"Cheer up Remilia. We are taking their main force after all, the bigger and fun part. I hope it will satisfy you as a little stretching."

"Fufufu…it will be a nice little banquet indeed."

"Try to be discreet with drinking, okay. I already let you drink some of my blood. We don't want people seeing you biting someone neck on headline tomorrow."

"Isn't it fine? Since we already have this amulet of yours, it's not like anyone will recognize us."

"The amulet only prevents recognition, but still leaves some impression behind."

"Why go through this trouble? You should have made it complete or something."

"Erasing memory completely is a pain and time consuming. Making us completely invisible will be more conspicuous, as people get cut up randomly does tend to gather attention. Lastly, I swear, for the love of god, that I will not wear fishy mask. We talked for too long. It's time to get to work." He sighed, hoping that the vampire will at least not try something funny. Tapping his feet, he hopped from buildings to buildings to intercept the invading force that by now had begun to unload from their transport.

* * *

The group appeared to be normal civilians at first glance. Their plain T-shirts and long slacks were not noteworthy for anything save for their ordinariness. However, the things that was odd about them were not only their strongly coordinate movement and the blocky object they held in their arms.

The objects were rather bulky with its wider end being the stock and the longer business end as the barrel. Protruding slightly from the bottom was a box magazine loaded with high powered round. With assistance of small coil gun system built-in, the bullet can piece the barrier of most magicians. They are expensive, but most army around the world, having learned their lesson in The Third World War, equipped their troops with them. The hefty price, however, still made it a fact that no one in their right mind would equip them for self or house defense. It was quite clear that they were not civilians by the fact that they kept their wary and their rifles at the ready even when the town seemed empty.

"Che! They have already evacuated the area."

"Damn those police, and the command for not letting us have our vests."

"Quit b*tching! Civilians don't fucking walk around with bulletproof vests."

"Mind you, civilians don't walk around with anti-magician high power rifle either."

"Budget cut?"

"Probably too heavy and large to hide."

"Or too lazy to do so. Damn command, what do they think their infantry are?"

"Disposable, that is." The voice followed by the cold wind chilled them to the bone. But before they could react, silver flashes crossed their eyes. Out of the twelve, three suddenly went weak on their knees and fell with a thud.

Gawking at the bodies, which slowly painted the ground crimson, they were not ready for the second volley.

Overlooking the intersection, Patchouli swiped her hand, lining the air in front of her with triangular blades. The green sheen of the metal can be seen as the blades were enveloped by bluish emerald glow.

" _Autumn Edge_." Silently finishing her spell, the blades were sent flying toward the unsuspecting guerillas.

Adjusted for the blades to not converge on the target hit, the spell created a fan of sharp metal that promptly impaled her victim. Their blood pooled from their wounds embedded with the blades. Another two fell and created another patches of red.

The scream of distress immediately broke the silent of the empty city block. Finally realizing the predicament they were in, they started to move.

"Ambush! Everyone get down, grab cover, now!" One of the men started to yell orders, but before he could duck for cover himself, he found that a beauty was baring his way.

"It seems you picked a wrong time and a wrong island to make a move." The leader found no word to reply to the woman, wearing some sort of white-blue maid uniform. The time was not on his side though as it was already too late when she swiftly swung the blade to his neck, dropping him to the ground.

Sparring no time, pulling some of the silver daggers, strapped to her thighs, and threw them into the back of those who were scrambling for shelter. Although unfortunately for them, the shelter they sought was the wall that blocked the sight from the building they thought the metal blades were launched from. It did however, left their back completely open to Sakuya.

Giving them no rest, she rushed in, while whipping knives at them to keep them confused and thin their numbers.

With brutal efficiency, by the time she got into melee range, only three were left. She spun and slam her dagger into the neck of the first one and without even bothering to retrieve her knife, continued to the next.

"Monster!" Screaming as the second one, the last finally pointed his rifle at Sakuya. A long burst of high power rounds were unleashed, but to his surprise, the target vanished. Suddenly, he felt an arm circling his neck and before he knew it, he was bleeding out on the ground.

"…" Looking down expressionlessly, she diverted her attention to the bloody knife, grasped tightly in her hand. Flicking it to remove the blood, she then slid them back into the sheath under her skirt. Sakuya turned to observe her handiwork.

"Is there something wrong, Sakuya?" Landing softly on her feet, the magician softly spoke.

"It's nothing, Patchouli-sama. It's just…" Sakuya walked toward one of the fallen rifle nearby. Grasping at its grip, she inspected the device.

"You are interested."

"No…Actually yes, but to think that human has come this far." Bringing the stock to her shoulder, Sakuya mimicked the motion of the last man. With light squeeze on the trigger, a few rounds flew into the wall she pointed at. The impact surprised her a little.

After letting out a few more rounds, she dropped the rifle on the ground. Patchouli used her magic to retrieve her knives from the corpse and handed them to Sakuya before both of them were off to clear out the next group.

* * *

"Sakuya, what do you think?"

"A typical diversion, fast and small unit aimed to disrupt the defender."

"I think so too, but it seems that their stage time is over."

"After all, it is our job to clean them out."

"That and the defenders have started to consolidate. It is only a matter of time before they wipe them out for us."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Should we call off our hunt?"

"Let the defenders do their part. We will quickly pick off the ones farther away. I don't want to go through unnecessary fighting."

"Understood."

"Before that, while we are at it, _Dew Spear_." Patchouli muttered before fluttering of in different direction.

Sakuya stopped for a brief second to see another group of guerilla on the street, skewered by pink crystal spears. The whole area was littered with blood and crystal shards. Confirming that there was no survivor, she vanished, leaving behind only ripples of time.

* * *

"There!" A man shouldering the rifle appropriated off one of the dead invaders yelled.

"Got it, opening fire! Wait, what?" Another man confirmed the target groups, but was stunned by the spectacle suddenly unfolded in front of him.

From the asphalt, many pink flashes that promptly flew straight into the air, before falling down like a deadly rain. The group of guerillas was simply shocked and mowed down by what appeared to be sharp spears of crystal.

"Oi captain, did you just see that?"

"Yeah, I was just about to ask you that."

All went to hell when the leader decided to take a day off to celebrate with his subordinates on the occasion that the weakest one in the squad managed to get a jump on the top ranker. The captain did not know how or why did the situation devolved into this shootout. All they knew was that they were not dealing with mass shooting, but foreign power. Not criminal organization would wantonly arm their goons with rifles like these.

After reporting in with the command, they had been hopping around stomping down these clowns behind the line. It was very fortunate as every member of the squad was present and the weapons can easily be picked up from the enemies.

When they thought the situation could not get any weirder, they witnessed the magic that they did not recognize. Assuming from the fact that it was used against the enemies, the magician was probably on their side. But they did not recognize any magician on the base with magic involving crystal at all.

"Oi command operator, do you have any magician deployed nearby?"

"Please wait…I don't believe so. You are on your own out there and our defensive line is still a few kilometers out of your position."

"Then who was the magician we just seen."

"A magician?"

"We did not see the man, but crystal bursting from the ground and skewering someone did scream magic."

"Any casualties?"

"Not on our side."

"So he is on our side?"

"I cannot confirm that."

"…Fill me in with the detail. I will discuss with Captain Kazama."

"Sure. My second in command will fill you in."

"Understood." The operator continued to frown as the detail for the magic used came in. It was as the man said. There was no one in this base with such magic.

* * *

" _Force Lasher_."

"What the!?" The man noticed the floating menagcing swords over his head before screaming in pain as they dropped.

"Where did that come from?"

"Over there!" In terror, the speech lapsed into Chinese.

"Hoh, Chinese…" Calmly made her observation, Patchouli erected the barrier laced with magic circle. The bullets that impacted with the purplish barrier were stopped in their tracks.

"The rifle is not working!"

"What kind of monster is she?"

"A magician, not that you need to know, _Noachian Deluge_." Impassively, she pointed at the invader and unleashed a torrent of water bullets.

Although the intended range was short, it was still effective as against human targets with no magical shielding or resistance would be mowed down with impunity.

" _Autumn Edge_. _Flash of Spring_."

Finishing off the rest, she turned to observe Sakuya who stepped up to her side.

"Quite late to the party, is there something wrong?"

"Someone has seen us."

"It seems that we have a problem. I assumed that they are not the attacker."

"You are right."

"Hmm, let's be more careful as we move on."

"Understood. Should I report this to the mistress?"

"It is unnecessary at the moment. We will deal with the issue after this all ends. Besides, Remi should be having her field day right about now."

"Of course."

Confirming with scrying magic, there weren't many left and the defensive line was creeping up as they were speaking. Patchouli hurried to finish with the rest before moving toward the beach where Lunaire was having his showdown.

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Here you go. This story is written on paper, unlike the previous one, so see how you like it. As I said, I write differently and have different voice on paper. The next chapter will be on pretty soon. As soon as I finish typing it in to the computer, that is. In short, a double chapter, or may be triple. Let's see how much I wrote by hand.

How do you like the fight scene, it is not perfect and quite bland in my opinion, but it moves the story along.

Please give comment whether you like me writing on paper or computer better. For this fic, everything until this chapter is written on computer. This and a few chapters after this are handwritten. Thanks.


	14. Chapter 14: Battle of Okinawa II

Hello, ITalkToSky here

Yay, a double chapter

Don't get your hopes up though as after this burst, there might not be chapter as often, maybe.

This chapter is hand written, so please tell me what you like more, computer or paper.

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Walking in menacingly slow and deliberate steps, Tatsuya, cladded in armored suit, continued to disintegrate his enemies and whatever they threw at him. Behind him was the Ono airborne that supposedly was the unit Tatsuya accompanied. Now they were following him.

The battlefield was strangely clean. Although some areas were blown up by explosives and rockets, there weren't many corpses lying around. It was because of the power of the small figure in front of them, disintegrating the entirety of ones who stood in front of him, while also healing his allies no matter the injuries.

The airborne thought that they would continue to push the enemy toward their beachhead just like this, but it was not to be.

" _Wind Chime Rain_."

Tatsuya thought he heard something, but he could not bring himself to care in his fit of rage, until there was a large circle appearing in the sky, which glowed brightly in green. Before any could even react, small rods of light began to fall from the sky, although falling was an understatement for the speed that permitted neither defense nor evasion. Precisely, the light in the shape of thin blade about the length of an arm mercilessly ended the lives of the invaders. There was hardly any scream as the blades all hit the place that would result in death or at least rob the victim of their ability to speak.

The battlefield that was filled with gunfire was now dominated by silent. But without letting them rest, they heard what could only be a maniacal laughter.

"What in the world…"

The airborne did not get to finish his sentence as Tatsuya suddenly sprung forward into the area cleared by the magic. Without anyone knowing he peered into his elemental sight. Seeing a concentration of humans, he rushed for his revenge all the while starting to search of the culprit of the previous display.

He did not have to search for long as the answer became apparent to him.

* * *

Wielding his favorite staff, he produced a barrage of glowing light projectile packed full with mana that he sent toward the largest concentration of troops he found. The spectacular explosion followed by the scattered body parts were the results.

It was easy, too easy that it was frustrating for the magician. He did not even have to raise his magic shield as his default barrier that completely enveloped him would take care of anything that flew his way. Bullets ricocheted off his body and he could walk unscathed through explosion and incendiary substance, all the while dishing out outrageous amount of fire power. To the invading troop, he was like an angel of destruction that impassively rain destruction and reshape landscape on his whim. However, that was not their only concern.

If Lunaire was an angel, Remilia would personify her title, the scarlet devil. Flickering in and out of sight, her red glowing spear would be protruding out of their chest when they finally realized where she was. Along with her glowing bat familiar that outclassed the performance of any alliance's magician, Remilia carved a bloody path that weaved into the craters formed by Lunaire's magic.

The terrified troops were horrified when their rifles proved to be of no effect to their adversary. One just shrugged everything off, while the other was too fast to even keep their sight on. One by one they broke into the run back to their amphibious transport. Unlike with Mahesvara, who picked them off one by one and crept up on them like looming doom, the angle and the devil were like divine retribution. Wiping them off in mass and permitting no resistance, it was like they were merely insects in the face of force of nature. Although a person vanishing in a burst of blue flame was terrifying, it could not be compared to the sheer chaos resembling hell in front of them.

Facing beings that could rain lightning conflagration and faster than they could even blink, the troops could not bring themselves to challenge them with mere rifles and rockets. Reaching the end of their line at their transport, they thought they would survive. But before relief could settle in, all their ships spectacularly erupted in flame. They all turned to see the source of the despair that continued to creep up on them.

In the mist of panic, they could not distinguish the appearance of their doom, but now they had the chance to witness for the first time. Surrounded by the blue light was the man who was raining death on them. Clad in cream-colored priest-like clothing and matching cape with a staff in hand, it was an image that could invoke both awe and fear. The staff in his hand looked like a cross, decorated with various jewels, with circle connecting the arms, was still menacingly in the poise position. Although his face was shown, they somehow could not make out the details of his features.

Closer to them, they saw a figure covered in crimson, both blood and flaming aura that rose up from her back. The figure was a girl, too small to be in any battlefield, but her feat seemed to tell another story. As she was closer, they could make out some of her details. Although they could not definitely tell the shape of her face, there were few features that jumped out to them. Mesmerizing crimson eyes, resembling red blood were locked at them. Her blue hair was stained red in some area, but most was covered by her pink mob cap. She was clad in pink dress with bright red trimming with the style that reminded them of popular depiction of aristocrats. In her hand was a brightly glowing scarlet spear that they saw fluttering about and reaping lives in the battlefield. The girl was walking slowly and deliberately, which terrified them further.

It was chaos as everyone was screaming, not knowing what to do. It was utterly incomprehensible to them and cruelly too fast. Over the course of minutes, they were back at their starting line, but with number far less than half. Thinking that they could escape, they could only despair as the last lifeline was mercilessly cut. Before they attacked, they were prepared to meet their makers, but not like this, not in this massacre.

"Surrender! This is the last and only chance that I am willing to extend this offer. Surrender now or you will meet your end on this island, just like them." The booming voice commanded silence. All the cries and scream came to a stop, as if they had received a decree from heaven.

The sound of splashing water broke the silence as all of them dropped their rifles and clamored to raise the white flag along with the naval flag of the Great Asian Alliance.

Although not knowing the meaning of the other flag, Lunaire still understand the meaning of white flag and asked Remilia to stand down. The blue and red auras were extinguished from their bodies and Remilia's spear dissolved, which was quickly replaced by parasol. As if the weigh has been lifted, all of the invaders let out their breath that they were holding.

Remilia, now at Lunaire side, turned to address the other side that was excluded from the beginning of the massacre.

* * *

"We seemed to put them off for a while."

"It is in our right to make them wait. We basically cleared the slate for them."

"Can't trump that." Lunaire chuckled slightly.

They turned to address the army that approached from inland, but before they could say anything, a small figure in black infantry armor rushed passed them. Lunaire turned around and to his dismay he found that the small figure raised his pistol CAD at the men on the beach.

Although he detested them for attacking the island he held dear, he was willing to be civil as long as they agreed to cease their foolishness, so he acted. Using his free hand, he pulled the pistol away from its target and simultaneously used his staff to drop his adversary. The other side seemed jaded enough in combat to try and right his posture, but Lunaire would have none of that. With magically-enhanced speed, Lunaire slam his fist that was holding the staff right onto his helmet and when the figure fell in earnest, he kicked at the side of his abdomen. Touching the ground, the figure tried to roll to the side, but Lunaire pinned him to the ground with his foot and with some force, managed to pry the pistol off the downed figure.

Lunaire was surprised that the person with a stature of a child could have a reflex found only in veteran. From the aura, although bright and unusual, he was nonetheless a human, thus ruled out the possibility of him being young only in appearance, like Remilia. That only left the possibility of him being a child, Lunaire wondered just who in the world would train their child to be this good at fighting. With his half-baked attempt to take down the child, he would have failed if after he realized the boy's skills, he did not use weak movement restraining magic.

With the child pinned to the ground, he quickly chained him down with half a dozen of restraining magic. Lunaire witnessed the boy's frightening ability to decompose data in the natural world and physical construct during his observation before he made his moves, so he did not take chance and covered his spells with multiple layers of defense. It was ironclad. Satisfied with his handiwork, he addressed the boy.

"Now, now, they have surrendered. There is no need to do something barbarous now, is it? Why don't you calm down a little? Just a friendly piece of advice, if you intend to continue this meaningless bloodshed, your side might find yourself bleeding."

The figure did not answer, but Lunaire sensed his disintegration magic activating against his bind. To the boy's dismay, there was no effect. Lunaire removed his foot from the boy. He was quite impressed as the boy probably already knew that his magic was useless against him. During the fight he felt many of the boy's vain attempts to peer into his information after all.

"I would commend your determination if it was not misplaced. What part of "they have surrendered" did you not understand? The battle is over, so stop it." Lunaire commanded the boy who stopped his struggling.

"Could you please release him?" Hearing a rather formal, but authoritative voice, Lunaire turned toward the man who stepped forward. The soldier behind the man trained their rifles on Lunaire and Remilia.

"Then I will ask you to lower you peashooters as well." Remilia answered dismissively.

"As long as this boy will not harm the surrendering troops…" Lunaire added his diplomatic response to cover for Remilia's blunt answer. She was probably annoyed that these men had the gall to raise their weapons against her.

"I will make sure of it. Special Lieutenant, do you remember the conditions for your mobilization." He nodded after feeling no hostility from Lunaire and turned to address the boy on the ground. After hearing the end of the promise form the soldier, he snapped his finger and lifted the enchantment. The special lieutenant quickly rose to his feet and holstered the pistol CAD he picked up from the ground.

"Now, can we hear your side of the story?" The soldier who seemed to be in charge addressed him.

"To whom I have the pleasure of speaking to." Lunaire tried to get the feel for the personality of the man.

"I am Captain Kazama Harunobu of Japan Ground Self-defense Force stationed in the base here in Okinawa, at your service."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Kazama. I am Kisaki and this is Chisei." Lunaire answered flatly, while nudging at Remilia who bowed politely.

"Now, if it is not a hassle, can you show your faces? It seemed terribly stuffy to speak with someone that I can't even look in the eye."

Lunaire gave himself a pat in the back as his identity concealment magic still did not fail him. The captain in front of him would not be able to make out any feature except color about him as it would appear too blurry. Lunaire admitted that the magic made them look quite creepy, but at least it protected them.

"I am terribly sorry but our identities are not meant for public."

"I am sure that the military should at least know the major contributors to the battle."

"Just list us as Kisaki and Chisei. We don't exactly need the glory." Lunaire sent the major a challenging look, even if the other side couldn't exactly make them out.

* * *

Before the standoff with the two powerhouses, captain Kazama ordered his troops to round up the men on the beach, which the two promptly allowed to pass. The disarmament went by very smoothly as the invaders already dropped all their weapons into the water. The relief began to spread between the troops who realized soon after that it was premature.

The standoff between the mysterious magicians and the captain was interrupted by the communication officer who was breathing heavily. The man was too pale for the news to be good.

"A Message from HQ! A detachment of the enemy fleet is approaching from Aguni! Two high speed cruisers and four destroyers! It's too late for interception! Their artillery is estimated to come into range in 20 minutes! We have to get away from the coast as fast as possible!"

"Get me a communicator." Kazama ordered.

"Sir!"

"This is Kazama. Could some torpedo boats…no anti-ship aircraft are available either? What shall we do with the POWs then?...Understood." Kazama took a deep breath to yell out the order that he did not agree with.

"In 20 minutes time, this area will fall within range of enemy guns! All units take charge of the prisoners and evacuate inland!"

Lunaire was appalled by the order relayed. Transporting this number of POWs and the units inland without any vehicle would be rather pointless in 20 minutes.

"Special Lieutenant, return to base for now." Kazama order the child flatly to escape. But the boy had another plan.

"Do you know the exact positions of the enemy cruisers?"

"We do indeed, but…Sanada!"

A man ran over with the tactical information terminal.

"I'm linked to our maritime radar. Shall I transfer it to our Special Lieutenant's visor?"

"Before that…did you bring the armament device with the extended range sequences you showed me on that day?" Tatsuya interrupted.

"I don't have it here, but if we have it lifted in by helicopter it can be here within five minutes."

"Please bring it as soon as possible."

Tatsuya then pulled out a wired communication line from his helmet and held it out to Kazama, conveying his intention for private conversation.

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Here you go another written chapter.

It is not exactly a fight, but domination. I suck at naming attacks too (and I don't like to name attack).

Please leave a review and tell me what you think.


	15. Chapter 15: Sakurai Honami

Hello, ITalkToSky here

I decided to clear out more chapters in my draft book.

Thanks for the reviews as always.

I decided to do the unexpected here. Are you ready everyone? I did not expect I would do this either, but it is better than just boringly let Lunaire and Remilia do something explosive to the ships. That is just too generic for me, so I let them do something less flashy that will add a good original twist to the story. It is also not good to show your hand too early in the game, muwhahahaha.

Also everyone, thank you for answering my question over them PM, I greatly appreciate your input (not sarcastic version you hear during debate) that got me thinking. I released this chapter early just for you guys. It is the longest chapter too, by a bit.

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"I have a way to destroy those ships. However, I don't wish for it to be seen by the troops. Could you leave Lt. Sanada's device here, then move everyone out?"

Although they could prevent most from hearing the conversation, it stood no chance against Lunaire sneaky eavesdropping magic at full setting.

"Oh, Remilia, they seemed to have some way to destroy the ships. Look, they are being all sneaky about it." Lunaire mischievously whispered to Remilia.

"Not sneaky enough against you. Was it?"

"Yep, too naïve."

The two soldiers seemed to finish their conversation and captain Kazama gave command to one of the officer.

"Captain Kazama, let me assist you with the evacuation. We could keep the prisoners in line." Lunaire offered.

Kazama pondered it briefly before deciding that it would be more beneficial as it both helped with the evacuation and preventing them from witnessing anything that might transpire here. Little did he know that both would see everything from the beginning till the end anyway.

"I still need to hear the story." Kazama grabbed Lunaire's arm. The youkai magician only responded with dismissive chuckle.

Moving to assist the evacuation, Remilia's and his presences inspired both fear and respect from both enemies and allies, even though all they did was walking along.

Primary main armament of ships had shifted from missiles to Fleming launchers, which basically were oversized railguns. Shelling involve continuous bombardment with projectile as fast as the hull of the ship could take it. Lunaire pondered how the boy thought he could trump it. Secretly, he was looking forward to entertaining show, a sentiment mirrored by his vampire companion.

* * *

While Tatsuya thought back on the encounter, he could only shivered a little despite his disability to feel strong emotion.

The battle was a massacre, more so than his. Tatsuya's fighting style made it seemed like the enemy was banging on a wall; lowly picking them off one by one, while making whatever they did in response pointless. But what the two did was different. They were like a force of nature that permitted no resistance, while unilaterally ground everything in their way to dust. It was similar to Tatsuya in many ways, but on a completely and unprecedented scale of destruction.

But that was not the only thing that appalled him. No matter how strong they were, they will be powerless against decomposition, so he could defeat them, or so he thought. Looking with his elemental sight, he faced a very confusing jumble of information concealing their structure. He could do nothing to break in and examine the structure of the body, rendering decomposition completely useless. It was the first time in his life to see such phenomena.

Normally he would not fear for his life. But when the man, Kisaki, dropped the threat that he would annihilate their side if they decided to lay his hand on the prisoners, Tatsuya was afraid for his sister in the base.

"Who are they?" Tatsuya muttered.

"I am wondering that as well." Kazama added.

"Although yours was also impressive, their onslaught could only be something of strategic-class magician. Captain, I don't believe we have any magician with such magic." Sanada joined in.

"We don't. Not any of the official ones either." Kazama confirmed it.

"Then it only leaves the unofficial. But how do we trace them."

"Kisaki and Chisei are probably aliases too and they went through the trouble of concealing themselves."

The three all formulated different conjectures, hoping to be answered by the time this ended.

* * *

 _ **A few minutes later…**_

"Nothing goes our way, does it Remilia?"

"It seems to be that way. Even though I have decided to just sit back and let them take the stage."

"Although the girl did well, unfortunately it wasn't enough it seemed."

From the building, they clearly saw Tatsuya worked his magic. Covered by the girl who suddenly appeared on a bike, he finally was able to deal a decisive blow against the ships that were raining hell on the shore. The flash beyond the horizon that reflected off the overcast sky was a sight to behold for the two. It was overkill, but still very worthy for the last firework to call off the battle of Okinawa. Watching them scrambling for the bike to run from impending Tsunami was also amusing. It was unquestionable that they would make it, but the two ageless ones still found their panicky expression hilarious.

Nodding slightly to Remilia, they hopped from building to building discreetly to avoid detection from the passenger. They stopped when the bike finally stopped. Lunaire observed Kazama laying down the woman down on the ground. They boy they met during battle was also present, kneeling down beside her. With his helmet off, Lunaire finally got to see how young he was, and also how distraught he was for the woman's condition.

"She is dying." Remilia said flatly.

"Yet, unmistakably, she seemed to overload her brain function with her magic. Judging from her rather unbalanced feel, she does not seem to be natural."

"I smelled something off about her, so she wasn't natural."

"You are always sensitive about human constitution."

"What can I do? They are my prey after all, how can I not know how to assess whether something will taste good or not. Still Lunaire…what will you do?"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Lunaire. You want to save her."

"Guilty as charged."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"Shh…gathering some information."

Just like with the case with the helmet, he listened in a little to gather information before diving in to the situation.

"It's not your fault. For Augmented magicians like us, it is only natural that our life would run out sometime."

The girl heaved her breath.

"Truly, it's not your fault. From birth it was my role to be a shield, and it's simply that today that role ends."

That sentence was all it took to spur Lunaire to jump from the ledge and glide to them. The words hit his soft spot quite squarely.

* * *

Listening to her last words, Tatsuya gritted his teeth. He could only watch her flame of life be distinguished as her time approached without being able to do anything. He never felt this powerless as even _Regrowth_ was futile against the clock of life.

"Won't you let go? I, who never once had the chance to freely choose in my life, am finally free to choose how I die. I won't let this chance pass. I can finally choose to die not as a man-made tool, but as a person." She muttered in a sweet and tender voice.

"And now you will live on finally as a person." A mysterious voice interrupted her line of thought. Craning her neck to look at the newcomers, she was surprised to see the man dressed in priest-like clothing she saw on the monitor before in the command room.

"You…" She was cut off when Tatsuya suddenly was levitated from her side.

Before anyone could react, the ground she was on was inscribed by prismatic glowing magic circle and runes she had never seen. The voice never managed to escape her lips as she found her vision scalded with blinding light. She felt strange. All she could see was blue, but rather than the characteristic coldness commonly associated with the color, she felt warm. The feeling enveloped her as she felt her fatigue receding and her muddled mind gradually cleared.

The azure light gradually faded to see the woman in a sit-up position. Her ale complexion was restored to its former glory and her eyes regained her energetic light. She warily looked around and found everyone still recovering from the bright light, save for two. They were the enigmas that suddenly appeared like a storm and most likely the one responsible for the situation.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kazama who recovered his wit first asked.

"What is your name?" Lunaire promptly ignored him.

"Sakurai Honami, ano…can you tell me what you just did?" She asked tentatively, still basking in the afterglow of the light.

"Ara, what a coincidence, her name sounded like our Saku…" Remilia chimed in before being promptly silenced.

"Giving you a second chance." Lunaire answered calmly. His tone was even, betraying no sign of tension.

"A second…chance."

"You said you never had the chance to live as a person. Now is the time that your wish finally came through."

"How?" She croaked.

"Oh nothing much, I just rejuvenate and repair your body a little and top it all off by freshening your spirit and psyche. It looks like it worked like charm. You will live." Lunaire continued cheerfully.

"Why? Even though I made the choice, why would you rob it away from me?" She squeezed her voice weakly and painfully.

"Because it was not the last choice you will ever made." Lunaire's expression and tone lost its former cheerfulness. He focused a leveled gaze at Honami.

"But before long I will have to return to that family. Nothing will change but delaying my death." She continued with her voice hollow.

"Then with this second life, choose, do you want to go back or do you want to come with us." Lunaire's voice thundered for all to hear.

"Or you could always choose to die right here. I will personally send you off." Remilia made a sarcastic offer, but her eyes that gleamed dangerously were not joking. She never really likes the one who gave up. If Honami really did took her offer, Remilia would carry it our without any hesitation or remorse.

"I…"

"Wait!" Kazama cut in.

"Yes?" Lunaire answered uninterestingly.

"We are busy here." Remilia quipped.

"What did you just do?"

"Didn't you hear him said? Or is there any part that you did not understand? He just saved her. That's it." Remilia explained smugly. She did not favor the cur who decided to ruin the moment either.

"How? There is nothing that we tried that could lengthen my life." Honami asked hesitatingly.

"Magic of course my dear…So let's hear your answer, Sakurai Honami. What will you do with your life, with us? With them? Or die?" Remilia delivered her question more forcefully this time.

"I…want to live."

"What is with that weak response? How about you say you "will" live?" Remilia, with her short stature, glared right into the eyes of the woman sitting on the ground. Although the magic lessen the intensity, the effect was noticeable.

"I…will live."

"Which path will you take?" Remilia urged her on.

"Wait, you simply cannot just take our guest and…" Kazama tried to integer, but Remilia's sharp glare stopped him as she released some of her vampire aura.

"This is now her life, Captain Kazama Harunobu. She has the right at last to make her choice. So what is it girl? I don't have all day to waste." Remilia, irritated, started to be more demanding.

"I…"

"Honami-san." Tatsuya called her, trying to prevent her from leaving, but instead became conflicted. He knew that the Yotsuba would use her as a tool again. To fulfill the wish she had imparted to him at the moment she thought she would die, he had to let her go. But Yotsuba would never allow that. Those in the family stay in the family.

"Can you take care and protect Honami-san?"

"Hm."

"I ask if you can take care of her, against all odd. Could you make her happy?"

"Tatsuya-kun."

"Answer me." Tatsuya strained his word.

"Hou…a respectable sentiment, of course we can, against all odd. I promise it." Lunaire answered with the most sincere voice he could muster.

"Who do you think we are, boy? Just a woman, do you think we could not protect her? And boy…couldn't you word that better. It seemed as if you are handing over your sister to marry another guy." Remilia replied haughtily, but did not forget to drop her teasing remark that earned a chuckle from Lunaire.

"Are you trying to marry me off already, I am offended. Well, apart from the fact that they don't know who we are, we seemed to disregard her opinion." Lunaire made a mock offended expression, before continued to chuckle. It was more entertaining that he thought it would be.

"Tatsuya-kun, is it okay if I leave? Would you and Miyuki be alright?"

"I am always alright. They will find someone to replace you eventually if necessary." Tatsuya tried to answer expressionlessly.

Captain Kazama and Lieutenant Sanada could only watch on silently. They knew better than to interfere with the inner working of magic family.

"Then I…"

* * *

"How are you? Are you settled in yet?"

"I finally get to calm down a little bit, thank you, Izayoi-san."

"Call me Sakuya, it is what people call me in this mansion and we are co-workers from now on. I am looking forward to your effort, Honami-san."

"Roger, I will try my best, head maid."

They both giggled a little. Their personality seemed to just click. Now the Scarlet Devil Mansion gained the second useful maid. Walking down the hallway together, they greatly enjoyed their chat together.

"By the way, Sakuya-san, did you hear the news."

"I am sorry. I don't really watch this…television that much."

"The media has been covering the battle at Okinawa for weeks now. They focused on you all so much that the invasion was not even the main issue anymore. Because of the leaked video, the world got to witness your battle and everyone started to make conjectures. All of you even got you own epithets. Lunaire-san and Remilia-san, the main combatants, are called Judgmental light and Scarlet Devil. Patchouli-san and you, Sakuya-san, were called Gleaming magician and Flash. There are also Rabbit Commando, Doll Bomber and Witch Cannon."

"They are making a big deal out of everything and what is with the names?" Sakuya sweat-dropped.

00000

Sakuya asked it for me, what the hell is with the names. I suck at naming. I don't want titles to be pretentious, but oh well. As for why Lunaire is judgmental light after I mentioned him as angel, it is too complicated to explain, but it just does fit for some reason: P

But…rabbit, doll and witch…I thought they went home? Dun Dun Dun

What just happened? I didn't plan for Honami. I was writing then suddenly, it just clicked in my mind. I felt that Honami is worth to bring back, but it will be too unpredictable to write afterward during the main arc. I don't want her to die, but having her live with Tatsuya will make it harder for me. Simple solution is taking her away from the equation to Touhou cast, bam, problem solved.

Also, I wrote Tatsuya this way because the book actually said that he grieved briefly before Honami died. Even if he eventually convinced his grief away, it still is undeniable that he actually felt some emotion, so I made the departure quite dramatic. I am not sure if I should continue on this line of thought of Tatsuya gradually (I mean really gradually and not suddenly "I can feel emotion" bullshit) recovering his emotion. You guys vote.

 **Do you want Tatsuya to gradually (read: over many chapters) recover his emotion?**

 **Do you like my portrayal of each character, especially Lunaire?**

 **Are the personalities of the characters consistent within the story?**

It a little bit far in the future, but I will ask now anyway.

Also, review will be appreciated. I read all of them as always. See you guys later, hopefully soon.


	16. Chapter 16: Homecoming

Hello, ITalkToSky here

This is another piece from my first writing session on paper. I decided to release this one early because we finally reached a thousand (and hundred) views in a month. It is a small milestone for me, so it really means a lot. Thank you and Enjoy.

Please read the author's note at the end.

00000

"We have to go." Reisen calmly stated as she hopped from building to building.

"And leave them here. No!"

"Alice, I thought you understand. You cannot fight the war with wavering feeling. Like you, I am afraid to fight the war. I am train to fight, but I am afraid to kill. It felt pointless to me."

"…If this war is pointless, why are they out there?" Straddling on her broom, Marisa pointed out to the sea.

"It meant more to Lunaire than us."

"Then what about Remilia?" Alice muttered.

"She probably values Lunaire as a friend. It meant more to her than not killing."

"Then we too…" As one of the few magicians, Lunaire is someone she could relate with.

"Unless Lunaire, our friend, is in danger of dying, we must be the one who chooses to abandon our conscious and kill. It is killing, so the reason for it must be from you. Don't let any coerce you into it. In this fight, we are not trading Lunaire's life with the enemy lives. If he has a chance to die, I will gladly fight because I value his life." Reisen ended her sentence forcefully as if she swallowed a bug.

"…"

"He will be fine, don't kill until when you think you can't live with the alternative."

"Fine."

"Good, now let's…" It was there, in the sky of Okinawa, the ugly side of the war that she detested more than anything was displayed to her.

* * *

"Everyone get to the shelter."

"Damn it, inspector, are we not done."

"Half of the civilians are not in the shelter yet."

"They have those fucking rifles and we have only pistols."

"They don't have body armor. Now shoot damn it. Our shots hurt them just as much."

"Bullshit!"

"Then believe in the bullshit and shoot!" Inspector yelled as he frantically reloaded his pistol.

"Why the hell are they hitting this area?"

"The civilian."

"Why? Civilians won't give them much trouble if they decided to invade. They should not even care about civilian even."

"But the SDF does."

"What?"

"It is just a bait to pin SDF in this area. They knew SDF will be tentative about abandoning people and that is the reason we are receiving support. Quit talking and shoot, now!"

"Damn it!"

* * *

"Reisen, what are you?"

"Alice, Marisa, please go ahead without me. Please reach the mansion safety."

"Whoa, hang on Reisen, what will you do, staying behind?" Marisa tried to bar Reisen from descending.

"Fighting, of course."

"What? You said fighting is not worth…"

"It is now, at least for me." Reisen continued coldly. He eyes flashed dangerously red.

"Why?" Marisa asked.

"Typical tactic, even for Lunarian, but the one I cannot agree with. Pinning combatants to one area by attacking non-combatant, one of the main reason I left soldier's life behind. I left because I didn't want to do this. If I let this happen, I don't know why I left!"

Alice and Marisa gasped as they look closely. A small strip of men in uniform was baring the path directly to the plaza where people filed in to enter a door that led underground.

Much to their surprise, Reisen already descended from her flight to the ground level. Dropping down at the far back of their lines, the enemies did not see her coming. Immediately got to work, she seemed to embrace the neck of one unsuspecting enemy and then unceremoniously snapped his neck. Didn't even bother to look at the man, she quickly inspected the gun and upon knowing the shape of the magazine, quickly checked the man for some. Although it was not as much as she liked, she could always find more.

Alice and Marisa could only watch in shock as Reisen took advantage of the fact that she was flanking almost every attacking man and quickly gunned them down from the back. Although the weight was heavier than the one she used, but her accuracy was still very deadly. Mixing with occasional red bullet emitted from her left hand and small beams from her eyes, she quickly eliminated almost all of the enemy reserve in the crucial time that they could not make head or tail.

Now knowing the source of the mayhem in the back line, they started putting less pressure on the police, which was a saving grace for them. The police force now elevated from mere nuisance to a threat as they kept the attackers from focusing on the girl in white shirt and blue skirt that was still hopping inhumanly high from places to places. Even with the suppressing fire, Reisen was bouncing around, not only using covers on the ground but also the balconies and windows on the buildings, all the while raining unholy amount of bullets and lasers.

Finally learning that they could not hope to best the woman, at least without great casualties, they picked the alternative by consolidating and pushing through the police. They hope to at least inflict some damage and cause some panic, thus achieving their objective before bugging out.

Abandoning the line because of the enemies' desperate charge, the police were on their back line. Unfortunately, they had already failed as the civilians were already in the line of fire. But before they could begin their killing spree, they hear small muttering.

" _Artful Sacrifice_ "

Looking doubtfully as something seemed to fall from sky toward them, they could not react to the sudden detonation that engulfed them in yellowish explosion.

" _Master Spark_ "

Without giving a breathing room, the rest gawked at an adolescent girl, dressed in stereotypical witch costume, on the ground with her hand stretched forward. Light began to gather around her hand before their world went bright. A torrent of rainbow colored energy ripped through the whole street, carving up the asphalt and exploding the cars lined up on the side. The building on the end received a nasty melting hole.

Almost unable to evade the beam, Reisen jumped and broke through the window into one of the buildings at the side that rumbled at the destructive power of the beam.

A moment of silence passed, before the police started to cheer for their saviors, who they found a little creepy from the blurred face.

The initial girl with the rifle walked toward her two comrades. Everyone thought that they would rejoice, but they could hear nothing from the group.

* * *

"No…" Reisen squeaked.

She could not bear to look at their faces. Their blond hair blocked their faces, but she could tell that they were blank, just like hers when she first killed.

Letting them bask in the sight of the gory mess that they created would be worse for them, so she did the best she could do for them, taking them away. Unceremoniously grabbing their scruff, she used her strong legs to propel them to the corner before rounding it, disappearing from the view.

"Wait!"

She heard something, but she didn't care. Reisen had to get them out of here as fast as possible. Out of sight, Reisen lifted off and started to fly off to the horizon with Alice and Marisa limply in tow.

* * *

"Inspector, do you know who they are?"

"I don't, never heard of them before." Inspector croaked.

"Inspector, the SDF reinforcement is here." His subordinate arrived with a man in camouflage suit.

"I am Lieutenant…"

"You are late for the party." Inspector did the unthinkable and addressed the soldier dismissively.

"Yes?"

"They are already cleaned up. Some girls with blurry faces suddenly dropped from the sky and began bombarding them with bullets, laser, explosive and whatever the hell that was." The inspector pointed at the molten asphalt."

"…please tell me the detail." The soldier quickly connected the incident with the unbelievable scene that was unfolding on the beach right at the moment.

* * *

"I thought you should arrive earlier than us. Were you taking it easy?" Lunaire joked, but his smile was quickly retracted as he saw the state of Alice and Marisa.

"I will explain later during dinner. For now these girls need rest." Reisen answered tiredly.

"Sakuya, help them to their room and then prepare dinner. This will be a long night it seems." He said cryptically.

"Sakuya, prepare a meal for two more too. I heard we had a visitor from Meiling." Remilia ordered.

"Understood." Sakuya didn't even raise her eyebrows at the mention of visitor and left in a flash.

"Hou…we have a visitor." Lunaire broached the topic as they walked into the hall.

"Yes, Meiling said she was human." Remilia answered.

"And how did she get here? The barrier should be holding."

"The fairies brought them in."

"By fairies you mean…" Lunaire asked, exasperated.

"Cirno and Daiyousei…"

Lunaire palmed his face and sighed.

* * *

It had been two days since she was held here. She still could not believe how she got here. Just because of her curiosity, she got to meet with fairies and the devil. Mizuki was especially afraid when the red-haired girl introduced herself as devil, wondering what kind of evil she would be forced to commit. She found out later that she was kind, which might be why she was named little devil.

Mizuki was informed that she had witnessed something she should not. It made her wondered what would become of her life and was greatly relieved, temporarily, as the ones with the authority were not present at the moment.

Koakuma reasoned that since she had to stay here for a few days and by that time, her memory would be unable to be altered. Normally that would be idea, but Koakuma couldn't cast memory altering magic. Because of that, the only choices available were to either let her join them or kill her. Therefore, she had the right to know everything. Koakuma took the time to teach her and started to adore Mizuki as her first pupil and possibly Kouhai.

Mizuki was shocked at the nature of the residents of this place, the history of Gensokyo and the ancient magic that was lost through time. Things such as manipulation of time and space were something unthinkable to modern magic. Not only that, she learned that two of the great puzzles of Weight-Systematic magic were solved as easy as breathing for them. Although the prospect of death still terrified the 13-year-old child, she was still fascinated to no ends.

Currently she was reading the book she borrowed from the vast collection of the library. She was trying to learn as much as she could about her eyes and Voile magic library provided her with ample abundance of materials. Sadly, she did not have enough time. Mizuki heard a polite knock on her door, so she gently placed the book on the desk to answer.

The sight that greeted her was a very gorgeous silver-haired maid with matching eyes. According to the description from Koakuma, Mizuki recognized her as Izayoi Sakuya, the head maid.

"Are you Shibata-sama?"

"Yes…you must be Izayoi-san?"

"Yes, I am. Shibata-sama, your presence is requested at the dinner table."

"Eh?" She let out quite an unladylike yelp, but also very adorable at the same time.

"The mistress has returned. She asked to meet you at dinner, little girl. You don't have to worry so much. They are all very kind." Uncharacteristically, Sakuya patted Mizuki's head, gently comforting her. After all, Sakuya couldn't bear to see the girl deteriorating into nervous wreck.

"Is it going to be alright?"

"I am sure. Now let's go, wouldn't want to keep them waiting." Sakuya ushered the child down the hall to the dining hall.

* * *

"Ara welcome, little one." Mizuki heard the voice form the end of the table.

Mizuki gawked at her otherworldly appearance, especially her wings and mesmerizing red eyes. She heard Sakuya clearing her throat and followed her to the seat assigned.

Sitting on the ornately crafted chair, she clearly recognized everyone from the information Koakuma provided her. However, she found a few missing and one woman who did not match any of the description.

"Since everyone is present, save for some that is quite unwell. Let's start. I am Remilia Scarlet, mistress of this Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"Well, it is my turn. I am Lunaire Vivian Meister, a magician of this mansion. Please call me Lunaire."

"Patchouli Knowledge, a magician."

"Izayoi Sakuya, a head maid of this mansion, pleased to meet you."

"Koakuma, a librarian and helper to Patchouli-sama."

"Hong Meiling, a gatekeeper of this mansion, nice to meet you."

"Reisen Undongein Inaba, a resident here." Her voice was subdued as she felt slightly ashamed having no title as other in this mansion.

"Well…I am a newcomer here, Sakurai Honami, a first generation of Sakura-series."

All eyes were trained on Mizuki, who shuffled nervously in her seat. An already shy girl was panicking internally.

"I am…Shibata Mizuki…" The girl thought hard about her position that she could state, but found none. All the while everyone secretly enjoyed her troubled expression and found it very adorable.

"Now then, the rest of the members will be introduced later on, so let's get on with the business. I would like to officially welcome Honami as a maid in this mansion. I am expecting great things from you."

"Yes, of course." Honami bowed in her seat.

"I hope this lifestyle will not be too restrictive for you, after all you chose to be with us. I will see to it that you will have a comfortable time here."

"Thank you, my lady."

"You don't have to be that stuffy. Now let's move on to the more pressing issue." Remilia directed her gaze to Mizuki who by now was paralyzed still.

"You don't have to worry Mizuki-san. I heard from Koakuma. You won't be killed or hurt in any way." Lunaire spook gently.

"…" As if the weight has been lifted, Mizuki let out the breath she was holding.

"But still something must be done." Lunaire harden his voice into a formal tone.

Honami looked uncomfortable. Today was a roller coaster for her. Helping Tatsuya and resolved to die, she was saved and taken away to live a human life. However, ironically only one of the groups was actual human. They disclosed both their appearance and nature to her, which shocked Honami greatly. She almost couldn't believe in fantastical supernatural beings like vampires, but the genuine feeling of Remilia's wings convinced her otherwise. From her observation, they did not lie to her whatsoever during their explanation, so she had quite a good impression of them. The conversation during flight also made her understand that they weren't malevolent. The flight however, almost shocked her, a modern magician, to death.

Now in this situation, Honami wondered what offer they would give to the girl. Would they be another Yotsuba to her or would they be something else."

"You have two choices. It is not true that your memory cannot be altered if we used high level arts. You can have your memory of your time here altered and we both walk our different path in life or you can join us." Lunaire explained calmly.

"Then…what about my parents?"

"It is not like we will take you from your parents."

"Then how…"

"We can have you here as part-time student. You just have to sign magical contract of secrecy, and can return to your home. As for how to commute here…hm…teleporting key should be alright."

"Teleport?!" Honami burst out in surprise, which received a chucked from both Lunaire and Remilia.

"Yes, teleportation is not that much of a hassle with proper preparation. That way, this girl could come to visit us anytime. Also magical contract is bound with life, so there is no worry about our secret." Lunaire explained.

Honami gasped in horror when she heard the contract was bound with life, which was not unthinkable as they were capable of feat such as teleportation.

"Don't worry, Sakurai-san, although it was bound by life. When the person tried to speak or demonstrate the secret, they will only receive compulsion to stop and a warning. If they consciously oppose that though, the consequence will ramp up. I am sure Mizuki-san won't have that problem though. Ah, and the condition will not be anything unreasonable. In case that it is necessary to protect yourself, you can do what you must. It is not like our secret is not important, but I don't want to force a child to accept death just to keep our secret." Lunaire assured her.

"So what is your choice?" Remilia asked the girl.

"I…I like this place. I can also find the answer to my eyes here. I would like to join." Mizuki squeaked each word out with a tiny voice.

"I like your commitment to your goal, but you should loosen up a little. You won't last if you maintain high tension around us like that."

"Yes!" Mizuki answered rigidly.

"Yare yare, Reisen, we will discuss the issue at later time." He dropped her hint with his eyes that the topic might be too much for a child, especially if it concerned the reasons that the young witches ended up like that.

"Now let's not wait and enjoy the meal." Hearing Sakuya entered with the cart, she signaled the end of difficult conversation.

00000

Done, this chapter is quite long.

So how was it? I pulled in the contrast between SDM and the Yotsuba. I also tried very hard to make Honami an actual thoughtful and well-fleshed out character. Did I succeed?

Oh before anyone ask why I let Reisen and the rest fight anyway. This is my way of making it real to them that sometimes killing is unavoidable. Also I don't want a schism to happen between the Touhou cast. Like the one who doesn't know about killing will think that the more jaded members are cold blooded. If everyone experienced their share of bloodshed, then they won't be able to point finger at each other and say who is more evil.

Sakuya almost had a nosebleed attack from Mizuki's cuteness.

The questions are still the same so please leave a review.

 **Do you want Tatsuya to gradually (read: over many chapters) recover his emotion?**

 **Do you like my portrayal of each character, especially Lunaire?**

 **Are the personalities of the characters consistent within the story?**

Fun fact: Before I revise this, at the end goes…

He dropped her hint with his eyes that the topic might be too much for a child.

Then I was like, wow, that sounded very wrong, especially at the dinner table. So scandalous! Lol


	17. Chapter 17: Years Later

Hello, ITalkToSky here

Here you go another chapter. We are moving to the time before the first high, just a few months. You will have to wait for a little bit for Touhou cast to orchestrate some event during the main arc. We need to arm them.

00000

Almost three years had passed since battle at Okinawa and the waves still had not died down. It was after all, such a memorable event.

For the world, it certainly wasn't the first time magicians took the field of battle and certainly wasn't the last, but the power displayed was immense. The amount of power that the magicians on that day wielded was not the only factor for the attention. It was also because their faces were blurred, without exception, and thus connecting them all to a single group. Every country and alliance around the world were devoting their effort and capital to locate the organization that they weren't even sure existed, all because they were terrified of the prospect that a single organization held command over all those powerhouses. Especially the two, Judgmental Light and Scarlet Devil, they were all high on the search list.

Things weren't that different in Japanese magical society. They were frantically searching, but nothing turned up at all. It could not be help as all they had was fake names and their height. The faces weren't seen. The clothing was unreliable to trace people. The trace of them leaving the battlefield went cold abruptly as if they just vanished into thin air. The Ten Master Clans were both vexed and threatened by this development. They wondered just what kind of organization had the capability to evade the whole world. The fact that their origins, motives, members and even the name of the organization were not known further fueled their anxiety.

For Scarlet Devil Mansion, everyone managed to establish their routines. Remilia picked up reading novel as a new hobby, but she never told anyone what kind of books she read. Sakuya was doing her duties as per usual with Honami in tow. It was to everyone surprise that Honami was quite deadly with knives, although not to the extent of Sakuya, but nonetheless good. Reisen decided to pursue her previous occupation as pharmacist, sometimes chemist and a test subject, much to her dismay. Lunaire and Patchouli were doing their research into both their magic and modern magic. Sometimes they also helped with teaching Mizuki and Honami in their arts. Alice and Marisa were mostly the ones in charge of educating these two. They gradually got over their trauma by shifting their energy to teach their infinitely curious pupils. Mizuki got along with everyone, especially Koakuma, and continued to drop by every night for short lessons. It was a little bit sad though to see a 13-year-old child taking night courses.

Overall, everyone was accustomed to the life away from Gensokyo. However, there was one pressing concern, human contact. As pathetic as it sounded, everyone was quite bored and lonely, only talking among their small community.

"I think we should buy a house or two outside. We had been holing up here for years already." Lunaire started the meeting by getting to the point.

"All of us have a valid identity here, so I don't really see why not." Reisen was rather enthusiastic with the proposal.

"Yeah! I heard that the little one is applying to their magic school." Marisa chimed in enthusiastically.

"Marisa, Mizuki is in our age range, you know? Although we both were like teachers to her, don't talk like she is a child anymore. And to answer your question, she told me that she was aiming for First High School." Alice nudged Marisa on the shoulder.

"Isn't this a good chance."

"What do you mean Lunaire?" Alice tilted her head.

"Since we want to learn about modern magic, we should just go to the source." Lunaire wore a Cheshire grin that sent chills up everyone's spine, save for Remilia. For most, this meant Lunaire had ideas and they knew that magician getting ideas meant one thing, trouble. However, this translated differently for Remilia as it meant something fun to the vampire.

"You are not suggesting we join Mizuki in her school?" Alice asked tentatively.

"It is exactly that…" His grin widened.

"I will pass." A soft voice came from the purple-haired girl.

"You can be a spoilsport sometimes, Patchouli." Lunaire let out a dry chuckle.

The only response he would get out now was Patchouli burying further into her book, so he shifted his line of sight toward two blond magicians.

"Alice…?" He said in sickeningly sweet voice.

"…Yes?" Alice looked very alarmed with this development and was shivering like deer in headlight.

"I think you said it that all of you are of the same age as Mizuki, didn't you?"

"You want us to attend school?" Marisa asked incredulously.

"Yes, Marisa gets 10 points!" His teasing instinct he got from Remilia ran wild.

"Hell no, I'm not going to school!"

"But Marisa…I will be troubled. You see, there is this law that made it compulsory for you to attend school until certain level is met. I was doing my best to cover for your record all these years, but I am at the end of the rope. If you don't go to school, I cannot let you out of this mansion anymore. You will be treated like criminals, you know?" Lunaire let out crocodile tears.

"Ghe!" Marisa looked conflicted, gripping her skirt tightly.

"Please Marisa, I need your help." Lunaire tried his best to suppress his laughter while faking puppy eyes.

"Gah, alright, alright, I will do it ze!"

"Yay." He yelled out childishly.

"Alice will also help me out, right?"

"Huh, I will. You better treat me to some desert later, okay?" Sighing, Alice went limp in her seat and answered dejectedly.

"Done, I will treat you to that parfait that you said you like."

"Oi Lunaire, what about me?"

"Hmm…since you consented obediently, let's see…I think I have a small sample of hihi'irokane somewhere…" He trailed off cryptically.

"Deal!" She bellowed as Lunaire chuckled at how easy she was bribed.

"Now the only one left is…"

"Denied…"

"You're sure? I heard it somewhere that magic high school is connected to university library, you know? It could potentially answer everything you are curious about modern magic. You're sure you are not interested?"

"…"

"Pretty please with a cherry on top."

"…" Still no response from Patchouli, but she at least lowered her book. Her resistance was keeling, but still not enough.

"It can't be helped." He hung his head and stood up from his dinning chair.

"Where are you going?" Alice who remained silent until now raised her voice.

"Oh, we are done for the meeting. I don't really have anything more to discuss, so you all can leave if you want."

"Oi, you can't just call all of us out because of just school. There must be something else." Marisa called out in her usually boisterous manner.

"…You are right…but I don't really have the clearest idea, so I can't exactly talk about it in great detail. It might be better for me to tell you after I figured everything out." Lunaire appeared hesitant as he turned back to the group that remained seated.

"If it is something that concerns you that much, then you should tell us about it." Reisen asked calmly while trying to be diplomatic.

"You are right…It is about the Ten Master Clans…"

"You mean the families at the top of this country's magical community, right? What about them." Puzzled, Alice blinked and stared into his eyes.

"They are on a manhunt for you all I believe. Is there anything else?" Koakuma asked, citing the information they had been bombarded with on the news for many weeks after the event.

"Are there any indication that they have found our traces? If so then…" Reisen's ears stood up at attention and alerted. Before Reisen could hyperventilate, Lunaire stopped her with a hand gesture.

"No such thing, we were very thorough. There is no concern about that, but there is one about the clans, one of them to be specific."

"What made them so special?" Reisen continued.

"I heard from Honami-san about the family she used to serve, Shiba family. They were related to one of the Ten Master Clans families as one of their branches. Supposedly, this fact is regarded as secret. The clan in question is the Yotsuba, bearing number four in their names, product of the fourth research institute to produce magician with some unique power. But that was not what concerned me. It was their secretive nature that set them apart from the rest. Other families behaved like nobility. Big mansions, luxury and publicity were the common threads among the master clans, except for Yotsuba."

"Hou, interesting oddball, but as long as they don't know about us…" Remilia trailed off as her eyes widened slightly.

"You realized? We basically showed a bit of our cards to the boy that day and then nabbed Honami-san, who seemed to serve as guardian to a sister of the head of the clan. I don't think that they will be happy about us. I doubt that the boy will reveal all information about us since he basically entrusted Honami-san to us, but I don't know about that two soldiers." Lunaire grimaced.

"We should have gotten rid of them that day."

"I don't think we should pursue that thought, Remilia."

"Alright, alright, Lunaire. So we basically stole someone who might be privy to their business from them. I reckoned that they aren't "clean" sort of people, or am I reading it wrong?" Remilia joined her hands in front of her mouth, concealing her devious smile.

"Espionage, assassination and other black operations that government cannot openly authorize, it is not a matter of unclean, as it should be an understatement. They are caked in it. From my preliminary research, there are rumors that they are the one behind the downfall of Dahan, a small country, but a country nonetheless." Lunaire spoke as a matter of fact.

"Interesting, but you don't seem too impressed."

"I am not. One of use can do it as long as we know where to hit. And that's my concern; they know where to hit. I doubt they could overwhelm any of us, save for fairies, but they are a threat to our assets, which definitely will be a nuisance." Lunaire sighed.

"Even if they cannot take us down, they can at least severely stop us from doing what we want, especially when we are so inferior manpower wise." Reisen analyzed calmly.

"Exactly, Alice, Marisa, we are going to buy CAD tomorrow. At least we have to look the part. You all will probably have upper rank month or two to practice with them before the entrance examination, so use your time wisely. Now if you will excuse me." Lunaire spun on his sole before pushing opened the door and left.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Marisa whined.

"Yes. There it is, Suzuya CAD store that I got my CAD from." Exasperated, Lunaire pointed to a small store with large that read Suzuya.

Noticing that Alice's shoulders were rather tense, he gave her a little poke at her waist, eliciting an unladylike shriek. Alice, in refreshingly plain pale blue one piece dress, spun back and glared at Lunaire. Her lips were squeezed shut, but it seemed like she tried to scream something at him.

"You don't have to be that tense, Alice. Don't make such as scary face." Lunaire chuckled loudly before deciding to try and bug out by entering the shop.

"You got outplayed, Alice."

"Marisa, you are noisy?" Alice retorted before stomping into the store.

When they entered the store, they were greeted by a neat store with various showcase filled with various CAD. Before they could do anything else, the familiar storekeeper warmly welcomed them.

"Hello, welcome to Suzuya CAD store. May I know what type of CAD you are…Ara Lunaire-san, it has been a long time. I hope you are doing well." The maple haired onee-san approached.

"I am doing alright, Kirika-san. It certainly has been long. I am glad that you still remember me, even though the last time I dropped in was with Saegusa-san many years ago. Still, after three years, you still look the same." The silver-haired magician smile brightly while giving her some lip service.

"Ara, how sweet! But I am afraid that you won't get any discount even if you flatter me." She smiled sweetly.

"Guessed so." He sighed and acted dejected like a child with his favorite toys taken away, but quickly recovered.

Alice and Marisa could only watch in wonder at how cheerful Lunaire was being. He quickly adopted a "pleasant" business attitude and turned to the two of them before clearing his throat.

"Everyone, meet Kirika Kirin, the store clear and CAD engineer of this shop." Lunaire introduced her briefly and smoothly as if practiced.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Alice bowed slightly.

"Nice to meet you. I will be in your care, ze!" Louder than Alice, Marisa uttered her greeting.

"And Kirika-san, meet Alice Margatroid and Kirisame Marisa."

"It is good to meet you…but Lunaire-san, are you cheating on Mayumi-chan already? Not only that, flowers in two hands? I thought that you and Mayumi-chan would go well together." Kirin raised her voice and glared at Lunaire, who defensively raised his hands and waved them in front of him.

"To begin with, Kirika-san, Saegusa-san and I don't have that kind of relationship. We only met up by chance and she decided to drag me here after she knew I was looking for CAD. Also these two are my friends and I am not currently pursuing them in romantic sense." Lunaire replied stoically, trying very hard to keep tight control over his expression to deny Kirin off her pleasure from teasing him.

Alice and Marisa watched in earnest, hopping to see the smug Lunaire flustered, but was quickly disappointed when his guard proved to be too strong to penetrate.

"Hmm…I will leave it at that…So how can I help you?" Kirin eyed him cryptically before switching to her neutral, calming looks.

"Can I ask the same session I went through last time for these two, measuring their aptitude for magic and then purchasing CAD?" Lunaire had to suppress himself from gagging at the mention of aptitude for magic. Saying that these two did not have magic was like saying North Pole is blistering hot.

"That one…alright." Kirin seemed to ponder over something before absentmindedly answered.

"Also Kirika-san, can I trade my old CAD in for a discount to purchase a new one?" Lunaire cited what he overheard from other as common sense.

"You can, but don't expect much from discount, okay? It usually is not much." Kirika appeared to be a little puzzled but consented to his request pretty quickly.

"Then Alice-san, Kirisame-san, please come this way. Lunaire-san can come too if you want."

"Just call me Marisa. I am not good with formality, ze!"

"Okay, Marisa-san."

She led them through the same small door behind the counter. Entering her laboratory, she ushered her employee to go watch the store before moving to tap her hand on the familiar podium.

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I bet you didn't see Kirika Kirin in play again, did you? I brought her back because I don't like neglecting any named character, so I will be very picky naming one. If they are named and not dead, they most likely will appear again. I take no habit in naming grunt with half-baked name then have them disappear after one chapter.

There you go. Signing off.


	18. Chapter 18: CADs Again

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Hi. Finally I have a breathing room from the exam. I might not update as often as I would like because October(exam)fest is coming right up.

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 _ **Flashback**_

"What is it, Lunaire?" Feeling a slight tap on her shoulder, Alice turned around.

"Let's go already." Marisa shuffled around restlessly at the front door. Lunaire thought that the way she was playing with her broom could anger Sakuya greatly by knocking something down.

"There is something I have to tell you about the CAD test…and Marisa, put the broom down before you snag something."

"Eh, we are leaving."

"So you don't want to hear about the test…it will be quite unpleasant, you know. At least for the first time I went through it and that was an understatement." Lunaire warned them.

"Every time you sigh, some of your happiness is lost with it." The doll user smiled at him.

"No wonder my life is so unhappy! But on a serious note…" He exclaimed and tried to act completely surprised, but his tone leveled off. His eyes lock straight at the two blonds in front of him.

"Then, what kind of unpleasant?" Alice asked, slightly worried.

"Painful…very painful, like hearing the metal scratching with glass, but ten times louder; it lessened with use quite rapidly for me, so I think it would be the same with you, Alice. On the other hand, the one I am worried about is Marisa."

"I…don't like painful things." Marisa squeaked while stepping back, probably already regretting jumping on board.

"Don't worry. Pain suppression spell will do just fine for keeping it in check. You can cast them right?"

The response he got was expected. Lunaire smiled slightly as Alice nodded, but grimaced slightly when Marisa shook her head apprehensively. Her face was slowly dyed with fear. It couldn't be helped as Marisa's forte involved heat and light. The intricate power control required for more complex utility spells, especially sensory interference, was beyond her.

Although everyone from Gensokyo who participated in Danmaku matches with exception had experience their share of pain. However, regardless of tolerance, pain was still pain and it was not strange for a person to dislike them.

"I will cast it for you, Marisa." His earlier cramped face loosened as he tried to appear disarming.

"Oh, really, thank ze!" She seemed to be liberated as her ramrod back slackened. The tension that was gripping her body left.

"But that is not the only concern. Their psion-based magic is completely different from ours. The medium they used to cast magic, psion, to be honest, does not suit our bodies. Hence, the pain was the result. But since it was labeled magic, Youkai magician will be able to use if given effort. For Marisa, since you are not one, you need to give extra attention when you absorb psion. I don't even know if you can use the properly even.

"Hai, hai, Lunaire-sama and Alice-sama, you guys always have it easy when it comes to magic. It seems that this human has to endeavor to meet your expectation." Marisa quipped sarcastically.

It is in a racial description. Youkai magician will have automatically high affinity to every type of magic, but we still have preference. We at least earned them with effort." Lunaire said, defensively.

"With how hard you are working, it won't be long until we welcome you into the fold. I know you worked hard just like us without relying on talent. We will be glad to have you among us soon." Alice encouraged her as Lunaire nodded approvingly.

Even though path to ascending to be Youkai Magician became shorter as the research into magic progressed, tremendous effort still was a requirement. It could be said that those who reached that level were only those who had unfathomable devotion to magic or else everyone would be able to reach it. In return for their effort, they were rewarded with many benefits, primarily their universal affinity to magic and agelessness.

"Gee, thanks." Cheering up, Marisa puffed her chest up.

"Then, let's us be off. We want to be back before night time. After all, I don't think any of us want to miss Sakuya's cooking. To be honest, they were quite nice." Chuckling slightly, Lunaire kicked of the gravel and took to the sky with the blonds at his back.

* * *

 _ **Present**_

"Now take a deep breath and press down on the screen to begin. Use the activation sequence provided to move the plate forward and backward. The machine will time it." Kirin explained to Alice who was standing stock still on the podium.

Alice had her doubt. The explanation and the process sounded very simple. Too simple that she wondered about the cause of the pain that Lunaire felt. He told her to focus on any unnatural feeling then try her best to accommodate the strange feeling. Unable to provide clearer impression of psion, Lunaire left both Alice and Marisa quite clueless. Although Alice put down pain suppression magic, she still could not help but worry.

Alice placed hand and leaned her weight on it to press it lightly. The portion of the screen she touched lighted up in brilliant blue as the machine hummed to life. With slight delay, the familiar spinal of spinning alphanumeric lines enveloped her arm and constricted before disappearing as if they were absorbed.

"Ah." Soft cries escaped Alice's lips that were squeezed shut. It seemed that some of the pain remained, but tolerable.

Unlike the first time Kirin witnessed the phenomena like this, she was calmer. While her outreached hair indicated her concern for the petite girl on the podium, he eyes that brimmed with hidden intelligence locked onto her reaction. She craned her neck slightly to see the result on the display to confirm her suspicion. The number 2039 were magnificently displayed on the screen.

"Alice-san…" Before Kirin could say anything further, Alice magnificently ignored her and cut her off by pressing the screen once again.

Although her head was quite numb and she was a little disoriented, Alice did not care and concentrated to soldier on with her endeavor. She finally got what Lunaire meant when he mentioned strange sensation of psion. When she absorbed the spiral of number, she monitored her system closely for any change, which hit her suddenly like a truck. Over the career of being a magician, she learned rudimentary to access her subconscious, so she was able to keep track of psion structure as it took shape using information provided in the computation of her mind.

She quickly found the reason for the pain. Other than the foreign texture of psion particle, the process of the CAD also lacked the proper tact. It was too automated. Everything was handled by external factor, the CAD, leaving little she could control, which she found very discomforting. Being a magician, it was not strange for her to reject something she had little control with and foreign. Unlike the magic that she normally casted and could manipulate to do whatever she wished, modern magic did not suit her taste.

To her, difference between her magic and modern magic was like the one between free response and fill in the blank questions. In free response, to achieve a goal, she could alter whatever she wished to fine tune the process. On the other hand, fill in the blank had limit on the available answer and she could not touch the rest of the sentence.

Calmly and rationally, Alice continued to analyze the feedback from casting modern magic that was weakening the more she pressed on the screen. It seemed that she was rapidly getting used to it.

1317 milliseconds

976 milliseconds

The number 654 was displayed as the look of understanding slowly graced Kirin's face.

486 milliseconds

408 milliseconds

318 milliseconds were splendidly displayed on the screen. Before they arrived, he kindly asked Alice to keep the score around the lower end of three hundred as it was the top range for even the most skilled magician.

The blond girl on the podium used her arms to wipe away droplets on her brows and loudly sighed. Her breathing was a bit ragged from the ordeal, but apart from that, no lasting damage was done.

"With this I am done. This took a bit out of me than I expected." Alice stepped down and sluggishly moved toward the group. Sweeping her hand toward the machine, she made a slightly sarcastic gesture to beckon Marisa for her turn.

"What? Oh…my turn, right? Alice, does it hurt a lot?" Shivering slightly, Marisa looked toward Alice. She seemed to have a very strong aversion to pain, especially the level that could cause her friend to suffer that much.

"Normally it should not cause any discomfort whatsoever. However, it seems that you guys have something against the machine. I…am not sure why…" Kirin tried to assure Marisa, but trailed off in the end.

Lunaire narrowed his eyes. Kirin was lying about the last part. Although her personality was quite fluffy and comfortable toward other, she usually never fumbled with her words, so there must be something that forced her to pause. This tripped several alarms and Lunaire heighten his guard to the max, while concealing the hostility so that she wouldn't notice.

"Don't worry. We are here." Lunaire dropped a subtle hint that he would help discretely.

"Alright, if something goes wrong, I don't know ze!"

Lunaire thought, amused in slightly twisted way, that if something went wrong, Marisa would be the one to suffer the full brunt of the effect. Not that he would let anything happen in any case.

Stamping her feet loudly on the podium, Marisa raised her right hand very high over her head and declared.

"And here we go!" She slammed her palm onto the screen, starting the casting process. On the side line, Lunaire mumbled in preparation to cast a strong pain-suppressing enchantment, finishing just in time when the spiraling code was absorbed.

"Ku…" Even though it was suppressed, everyone still heard a grunt that excaped from her grinding teeth. Her eyes teared up as the process ended.

"Marisa!" Alice called out worriedly, while sending a reprimanding glare toward Lunaire who she viewed as not doing his work properly.

"Not a problem. Just this much…" She squeezed out her voice before slamming down again. Marisa bit down on her molar as the psion light started to envelop her hand once again.

Lunaire, on the other hand, had a horrified expression on his face. He was sure that the spell would be more than enough to reduce the contemptible pain to only thumping or none at all. He concluded quickly that Marisa must be going through rather debilitating amount of pain right now. Suddenly he was very glad that he started with a rather strong spell. If it had been any weaker, they would be hearing some blood curding scream ripping out from his friend for sure. Stepping back a few steps, he started his chant that ended with a snap of a finger.

Sensing new set of magic enveloping her, Marisa felt her pain receding. She became a bit hesitant to continue, but decided to end her chain of attempts with a last try.

"957, it seems that I am not quite there yet. This is my limit, huh?" Marisa slumped down on the podium huffing loudly. Her body convulsed slightly.

"Marisa?! Here take this and this!" During the test, Kirin left in a rush and came back just in time Marisa was finishing up. Lunaire glanced slightly at the items she was holding. Rushing up to her, Kirin held out a towel and after confirming that the girl received it, handed her a small white pill.

"What…is it?" Marisa groggily asked the woman who crouched down to her eye level.

"A painkiller, it should make you feel better and here is some water." Kirin held out a glass of water to the shivering girl.

"It is fine. It won't last too long. You don't need to pamper me that much." Marisa huffed, slightly annoyed.

"No, you are in that much pain, take it." Unceremoniously, she pressed the tiny pill against Marisa's firm lips, waiting for her to open up. When the time called for it, Kirin would not take no for an answer.

"Geez, fine, I will take this painkiller." Marisa rolled the word around in her mouth. Since arriving, she had never suffered any injury, so she was quite inept in the matter of modern medicine. However, it couldn't be said that she was adept in any kind of medicine. If it was about explosion concoction, she was the number one go-to person.

The pained girl swiftly brushed Kirin's hand away before reaching out and gesturing for the medicine. The older girl consented easily and smiled after Marisa swallowed the pill and followed them with the water.

"I have never feel this bad before, un…" Putting the glass down roughly from her shaky hand, the young witch cradled her thumping head. Her antics earned looks of sympathy from everyone presented. From their perspective, the reaction was stronger than any other aspiring magician tested, counting both Lunaire and Alice to the ranking. At least, they did not feel bad enough to collapse on their feet like the girl on the podium.

Fidgeting a little, Lunaire wanted to start diagnosing and healing whatever happened to Marisa, but It would be rather impossible with Kirin around. He bit down on his frustration and promised to himself to tend to his friend as soon as opportunity arose. On his top hated things list, causing his friend to suffer ranked pretty high.

A rustling was heard when Alice hastily heaved her friend from the podium and deposited her on one of the revolving chair available. Contrary to her slightly petite frame, she did so without any difficulty. Her body did not wobble at all, even with Marisa dropped across her shoulder.

"She will be fine. Let's move on to the CD." Lunaire ushered Kirin to get to work.

"But she…"

"Don't worry. Alice will tend to her." The fast she got out of this place the better was silently omitted from his sentence.

"If you say so…but they are still needed to select the CAD, tuning and selecting spells though…" She trailed off.

Turning to Alice, his eyes met a pair of light green orbs. As if they were discussing something non-verbally, after a few seconds they nodded like they came to an understanding. They pair of light green eyes shifted slightly to Kirin.

"I will leave selecting CAD and spells to Lunaire, but I will review the list of spells afterward." Alice stated calmly before turning back to massage her friend's temple.

"Alright, let's go, Kirika-san."

"Okay…still, you two have a very cute way when you interact with each other."

"How so?" Closing one eye in amusement, he turned to the maple-haired Onee-san.

"Well, the way you converse using eyes only. Not only that, she also trusted you with her CAD. Most magicians usually will not share information about what spells are on their CAD unless they are really close." Still plastered with relaxing, but slightly amused smile, she led Lunaire to the store front.

"We have known each other for a long time." He answered nonchalantly.

"Still, only close friends would do that. You are really trusted by them"

Lunaire gave her a cryptic smile, feeling that it was rather ironic. That level of trust was expected from friendship forged through many decades. It felt rather strange for him to be pointed out on it.

00000

And there you go. Another chapter will be up soon to resolve your curiosity about their CADs.

I am currently researching the light novel for the enrollment arc. There is a lot of content, not to mention the modification that I want to make to give a unique spin to this story, just like the time I did with Okinawa arc.

I am sorry that this seems like I am buying time for the main arc, but I think that setting up these small events will be useful for me to pull back up in the future.


	19. Chapter 19: Busted Again

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

I am sorry, but the thing in the CAD shop is not ending just yet. It is not filler I swear, even though I still get the benefit from more time to run through Mahouka once again. Anime is not quite enough, so I have to go through light novel again, so I hope you be patient before I get to the main arc.

 **THERE IS A QUESTION AT THE END OF THE PAGE**

 **IF I DON'T RECEIVE ENOUGH ANSWERS, I CAN'T CONTINUE WRITING. I AM STUCK…**

00000

After around an hour, Lunaire was finished and satisfied with his choices.

For their CAD, he chose three identical model of general type CAD. Kirin said it was a little too high-ended for school and would cost unnecessary high, but he went ahead anyway. Kirin could only sigh in annoyance for him ignoring her. In his defense, there was no magician worth his salt that will opt for something less than the best for the job unless absolutely required. The reason he did not choose the best was because it would draw attention, so he chose the best he could get.

The sigh deepened when it came to spell selection. She stopped questioning the selection that Lunaire put on his CAD a while ago, but his selection for his friend appalled her. In term of its composition, it was similar to his in the fact that it was a mix of simple elementary spells and combat oriented spells.

Selection for Marisa's combat spells revolved around personal acceleration, oscillation and convergence type magic. Overall, Lunaire tailored it toward heat and light based attack, offering overwhelming firepower with the least amount of processes as possible. However, he still included some from other system in the case that Marisa decided to be creative.

For Alice, Lunaire spent the most time choosing. Judging from her doll manipulation and exceptional spatial awareness to use it, he figured that speed and movement type, coupled with extra sensory magic, would be up her alley. However, from that point on, he just treated it like salad bar. Any spells that could be used in succession to create potent combinations depending on the circumstances were loaded in to accommodate Alice's tendency and preference to strategize in battle. Overall, Alice's CAD became a jack-of-all-trades, having a little bit of everything to suit mundane or combat purposes.

Although Kirin tried to protest, it fell on head ears as Lunaire brushed her off, while commenting that the two would review the selection. Fortunately or unfortunately, Lunaire for the first time heard Kirin grumbled and pouted.

* * *

"I have kept you all waiting." Lunaire's voice was heard from the opened door.

"It is fine. Marisa is alright now. The pain was gone." After all, it was Alice who took advantage of Kirin's absence to heal her friend.

"Is that so? Glad to hear that. Kirika-san, can you please show them the list of spells." He gestured toward the woman that entered after him.

"Whatever you say, Lunaire-san. Here, I don't really recommend it though. It is jammed packed with offensive spells that you girls probably won't need." Kirin appeared really worried as her eyes darted from the girls to Lunaire repeatedly.

"I will look over and decide on it." Alice responded politely as she received. However, before she could get to work, Lunaire walked over to her side and kneeled down to her level. As if to kiss her cheek, his face neared the side of her head.

"No blood." He whispered two words softly to her.

"Thanks." In response, Alice nodded and answered silently to prevent Kirin from overhearing them.

"No problem." Lunaire stood up and ushered Kirin to prepare her tuning machine. Not understanding the meaning of his brief whisper, she could only follow blankly.

Although they looked as if they were normal and completely recovered after 3 years from Okinawa, Lunaire knew better.

It weren't apparent at first, until Sakuya poured Remilia her cup of blood at the dining table. Nothing was wrong with the blood as no one was harmed in the process. It was as usual, Lunaire's blood. But as the crimson liquid trickled from its container to the cup, the two blonds were shivering as incoherent speech rattled in their throat. They looked away in a hurry and then attempted to hug themselves to ease their bodies. Their ragged breathing and wide eyes were brimmed with terror at the sight of blood.

Lunaire confronted them about their reaction and had ever since asked everyone in the mansion to keep anything remotely resembling blood away from the two. It did not take the brightest bulb to know that they suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. After all, they experienced blowing up people first hand on their first battle. This much was not surprising.

The silver-haired magician was quite worried. Alice and Marisa got over their initial shock but still had some moment of melancholy. However, his paramount concern was their safety. Even though he tried to load their CADs with spells that would not draw blood, he was just fooling himself. It was hypocritical. He told Alice that she had no place in the battle if she had no will to bring everything she had out to the table if necessary. And here he was, limiting the arsenal she had to fight and protect herself. Besides, there is no fight that does not draw blood. The magic he chose may not draw blood, like blunt weapons, but anyone could imagine the result of introducing a baseball bat to the head. They could always roast everyone in one fell swoop, but the aftermath of that would be another can of worms together. Being goody two-shoes who tries to fight without anyone getting hurt was out of question.

He feared the day that the two would face life-and-death situation again and could only vainly pray that such event would not come to pass.

* * *

Expertly, Kirin tapped the keyboard as the screen cycled rapidly through many windows. In a few seconds, the pair of hazy green orb turned to face the two blonds.

"It is ready, Alice-san." She raised her voice across the room.

Giving her friend on the chair another look, Alice made sure that the pain was completely gone before making her way to the waiting two. With short quick bounds, she closed in and stood next to Lunaire.

"So what do I have to do?" Alice locked her eyes with Kirin for a split second.

"Just place this over your eyes and place your hand over the screen for a few seconds. Ah, don't worry. It won't hurt. The last time when Lunaire did it, he did not feel any discomfort." Kirin comforted her and smiled.

Alice turned to direct a questioning look at her silver-haired friend, who only nodded to confirm Kirin's statement. Slightly assured, she received the equipment and silently followed the instruction.

Just like the first time Lunaire did the tuning, information began streaming into the machine. Kirin began working immediately. Everything was going well until Kirin dropped a bombshell.

"It is as I expected. Both of you have the same unique reading and it seems to be the reason for the pain. Each of you have your own differences, but share a part that is completely unseen before in my entire career. Just what have you done to…Lunaire-kun?" Kirin continued her conjecture, but turned around after feeling oppressive atmosphere from behind. The sight of hard prismatic blue eyes greeted her.

"Nothing, please continue, Kirika-san." His voice seemed relaxed, but his eyes were not playful in the slightest.

"Alright, um…the last time I tuned your CAD, I found your psion wave to be utterly strange and possibly deserving as one-of-a-kind. It made the tuning terrifically hard, but interesting. I saved some data and did some analysis on it, which proved to be very useful for Alice-san too. Unlike any magician alive, you share the same reaction to testing and also share this very prominent peaks in…um, Lunaire-kun, is there a problem?" Kirin noticed the look in his eyes and with quivering voice asked.

This information came as a shock to him. Lunaire totally did not expect his decision to get CAD magnificently backfiring on him. At least it was in the same shop, but getting busted this early in his endeavor did not bode well. His tightened guarded vestige and calculated look appeared to cause a fair bit of anxiety with the CAD technician.

Various gears in his mind began turning to produce options that could possibly remedy the problem. He decided that first things first, damage assessment was the priority.

"How many people know of this?" A little more forceful than he intended, he questioned her.

Alice, realizing the ramification of the woman's discovery, pressured Kirin with interrogative hardened look of her own. The technician in question finally realizing her plight flustered and snapped to nervous attention as she waved her hands in front of her.

"No, no, no, I haven't told anyone about it. Nobody knows about it other than me…Perhaps I shouldn't have?"

"To be honest, yes, you shouldn't have. That leaves me no choice…" Lunaire's voice trailed off to enhance the intimidation.

In terror, Kirin slid her chair slowly away from the two mysterious magicians who straightened their backs. Both their impassive gaze and the hint from Lunaire were enough for her to acknowledge the danger she perceived she was in.

"Please wait! I promise I won't tell this to anyone, so please don't hurt me. I beg you."

"Hmm."

Ironically, as Kirin backed away and whimpered in fear, he was simply thinking about the course of action to take. In short, he trailed off because he genuinely considering what was appropriate to put in the blank. Even if it was totally unintended, the pause scared the poor technician.

Not even a sliver of his thought suggested killing as an option. Not only it would send his friends into panic attack, Lunaire also found it tasteless and wasteful to kill her. It would be unreasonable to a certain degree to make her responsible with death, even if she brought this upon herself. It was the curiosity that killed the cat, but all magicians were guilty of this crime all the same. Arguably, it was curiosity that brought Alice and Lunaire to study magic, so he couldn't look at her in too harsh light. However, some measure must be taken.

"…but to have you join us." Lunaire continued crisply.

"Eh?"

"If you are one of us, you will be less likely to spill beans. Also we have ways to make sure that you don't." He continued, trying to sound as cold as possible.

"One of you? Who are you then?" The woman did not appear to be any less shaken.

This time it was Lunaire who faltered. He knew that it would come to this but as of current moment, he was woefully unprepared. In order to move up the stage as a major player in this world, their numbers and influence at their disposal were simply inadequate. For greater degree of freedom, they would inevitably confront an organization and it would be wise to wield one of their own.

However, the plan was to observe in depth the political environment and power balance in the country before tailoring their own organization that would fit specific demand. Currently, they had pretty good grasp of the surface of relationship between major influence groups, but it was still unsatisfactory, not by Alice's, not by Patchouli's and certainly Lunaire's standard.

Alice suddenly flinched as Lunaire sent her a telepathic ping. Quickly composing herself, she turned to meet his blue eyes.

* * *

"Alice, what should I do? Out of impulse, I offered her to join us, but what do you think?" Lunaire's voice seemed to echo in her head. It was awkward to downright strange to hear a person spoke without moving their lips, but Alice made due.

"The only choices are that or erasing her memory. Hmm…what do you mean by join us though? Mizuki-san was another matter, but I am rather unsure about having her join our ranks. She has deep ties as working adult here, so I can't really place my trust on her."

"I am thinking about an organization that we were discussing about. Altough it was a tad early, but it has to start somewhere. Whether she should be privy to our inside or not can be determined later."

"Lunaire, are you sure? I don't really see the need for this woman that would warrant such rashness."

"To be completely honest with you, Alice, I am not sure, but I think that being able to bust us after two encounters is something to go by. Other than that, I have nothing concrete." Hesitation filled his voice and he spared a glance at Kirin who was frozen stiff like a frog caught under the gaze of a serpent.

"That is quite a small ground you are treading on. Are you sure this is wise?"

"I am not, that is why I am asking." He sounded lost before sighing softly.

Alice observed the girl intently. He green eyes sought to uncover any potential that might be hidden under the guise of a simple woman.

"I suppose building bridges early might have its merit, but what about our organization. We still have nothing on that department, except plans."

"That, you can leave it to me to be creative, Alice. Can I count on you to help with convincing her?"

At such request, Alice looked inquisitively at Lunaire again and within a heartbeat received her answer.

"Well Alice, it is not strange for a person to feel quite unwilling to join unknown organization with unknown and possibly malevolent motive. You just have to assure her that we mean no harm to general public." Lunaire calmly explained.

"Alright then. But I am quite curious about who are included in general public."

"We will have to wait and see, Alice."

With their silent conversation lasting for a few minutes, Kirin was almost at the verge of fainting from the amount of tension she was holding within. It was the time to address the elephant in the room.

00000

And there we go, busted again.

I wonder if Lunaire's luck is just bad or what. Still, do you like how I recycled the scene where Kirika saved Lunaire psion reading here?

 **QUESTION:**

 _ **What should be the name of the newly established organization?**_

 _ **a) Himawari (Japanese: sunflower): Homage to your truly, Kazami Yuuka the Sleeping Terror**_

 _ **b) Gensou no Isan (Japanese: Heritance of Fantasy) [If you can guess the origin]**_

 _ **c) Voile Magic Association (just like vanilla, simple)**_

 _ **d) Kochiya (Japanese: Eastern Wind Valley): Sanae's surname**_

 _ **e) Hakurei (Japanese: Esteemed Companion): Reimu's surname**_

 _ **f) The Organization (dun dun dun): Please don't, I beg you. It just makes them sound like villains.**_

 _ **g) Any suggestion?**_

 **LEAVE THE ANSWER IN THE REVIEW**


	20. Chapter 20: Third Member

Hello, ITalkToSky Here

Now is finally the end of CAD arc.

Announcement: Midterm tests are coming up IRL, so don't expect update for the next two weeks unless I am feeling particularly like writing (which is not often).

00000

"As I said, you have a choice to join our organization. As for whom we are, you do not need to know at the current moment." Lunaire cleared his throat and began his performance.

"A-and…if I refuse?" Kirin's voice quivered, but Lunaire was impressed. Even with the looming threat, this person would not completely yield, an admirable character.

"Then I will have to erase your memory, but I advise against it. My control isn't exactly the best, so you might end up losing more than one day. As for how much could you lose, I can't say…" With perfectly flat voice, he spilled no indication that he lied, even though he did. It was completely untrue as he could selectively delete memory with great precision if Kirin decided strongly to go down that path. He lied simply to add another factor to convince the technician.

"…" Kirin looked torn between the choices.

"It is not like we are a dangerous organization. Hmm…when I say it like that, it did not sound very convincing now, does it? We are just a research organization. Our secrecy was not for any nefarious reason or anything. It is just for our safety." Alice softened her expression and patiently explained.

"Magic research is after all very dangerous in wrong hands." Exaggeratingly nodding, Lunaire tried to act as if their acts were completely justified. Painting them in good light would no doubt play a part in convincing her.

"But…what kind of research would require such secrecy. Isn't it better then, for you to be affiliated with…oh so you are affiliated with either the Master Clans or the government…" Before she could continue, Lunaire stopped her with his chuckle and raised his palm.

"Far from that Kirika-san. Although we are based in Japan, we are not affiliated to any group. The word independent would be apt in this case." Like a teacher, Lunaire entered his lecture mode.

"Great evil can be born from purest of intention. To make sure that no one can ever have influence over our action and utilize anything in the way we don't approve, we have remained in the shadow." As expected of the puppeteer that once entertained many children from human village, Alice still did not lose her flair at storytelling.

"But don't mistake our passiveness as weakness. We are perfectly capable of defending ourselves if need be." Deep and resolute declaration from Lunaire added to the pressure.

"Then why do you even research? What gain do you have from this?" The quivering in her voice lessened when Kirin finally asked the question that was bugging her.

"Very good question to ask. Good, it seems that my invitation is not a mistake. You have a good head on your shoulder. To answer your question, Kirika-san, the purposes behind our organization are simple. We are boundlessly curious, just like you who probed us out."

Lunaire paused for a breath. Constantly putting up a grand attitude tired him out greatly. The silver-haired magician observed the woman on the chair and was glad to see that curiosity began to replace fear.

"We want to know more about magic. For us, magic is interesting, so we research it to understand more. It was that simple." Confidently, he continued.

The statement brought smile to Alice. It was arguable that magicians were, even partially, children at heart. Whether it was for power or the interest in the marvel of whimsical force of magic, the thing that brings them all together is boundless curiosity. How far will their power reach and what can they do? Any self-respecting magicians, at least in Gensokyo's magicians' term, would stubbornly refuse that there is a limit to magic. Only those that rejoice to walk on the frontier of magic are worthy of the tile of magician. That is not to say that anything is permissible. Many magicians had their own work ethics, although some unscrupulous ones exist.

"Is it wrong? Then is it wrong to study art because you want to rather than for empty reason like enriching culture?" Lunaire raised his arms as his eyes sparkled like a child talking about his favorite toys.

"…" Kirin looked blank, but her eyes widened slightly.

"Even if it is for such selfish and childish reason, I can't?" The energy was poured to the brim into his voice as it was raised a few octave to imitate a child.

"Still there are things you can and cannot…" Mustering her response, she was cut off by Alice before she finished.

"If that is what you are worried about, don't be. We are also disgusted by how magicians do things too. The research institutes producing magicians who serve as instrument of war, I am quite horrified to be honest. Our organization will never tolerate or encourage such practice." Alice started her statement with a smile that quickly evaporated toward the end at the mention of the research institutes and the atrocities committed there.

"And that as hypocritical as it is, brings us to our second purpose. It is not a secret that the government still views magicians as military assets, restricting even their travel abroad. Ne, Kirika-san, isn't it obvious what will happen if the government happens to find a congregation of powerful individuals coupled with equally invaluable researches operating in their territory?"

"…That is…" She could not finish her sentence as Lunaire continued in his timber tone, devoid of any childishness he displayed earlier.

"Si vis pacem, para bellum, a Latin adage for "if you want peace, prepare for war," most fitting, don't you think? As if we would allow our childish passion to be reduced to just simple machination of carnage. Although battle magic exists, we refuse to be attack dogs on the account that what we have are fit for war."

"…" She watched him in rapt attention.

"We need power to make sure that we don't end up as pawn acting out someone's twisted play. Ironic, isn't it? To think that we can't even enjoy our hobby normally…" He laughed, laced with twisted mirth.

Although most of it was dramatized, it truly reflected Lunaire's and to some extent the Scarlet Devil Mansion residents' resolution. This would of course be the vision for the organization. They were not pacifist and were willing to use force to protect what they deemed worth protecting, their friends, their pride and their passion. They would not turn away even if blood had to be spilled.

"Now that my tirade has ended, what say you?" Lunaire asked vibrantly, dispelling the earlier gloom around them.

"Eh?" Unable to keep pace with the atmosphere, Kirin could only sport blank look. Much to his amusement, her mouth did not seem to be able to close properly.

"Do you want to join us? If you still don't, it is fine. Lunaire was just threatening you about your memory. He can easily erase only few hours off as needed, so if you don't feel up for it, don't be reserved." The role was reversed as Alice cooed, comforting Kirin like an elder sister. She approached the seated woman and reassuringly held her shoulders.

"Ara, I was found out." Sticking his tongue out, he attempted to lighten the mood.

While letting Kirin cooling down from the joyride, he turned to tend to Marisa who was sleeping from the magic Alice applied to spare her from the headache. He was quite thankful as Marisa would ruin his attempt to set up the drama.

"Is Marisa-san in with you on this?" Lunaire heard a conversation was starting behind him.

"Yes."

"…Then I have a question…"

"What is it?"

"What do you and I gain from this?"

"Simple, we gain you as one of our auxiliary researcher and for you, depending on your achievement and effort; will gain access to our researches. Even though you cannot share them, I am sure you will enjoy them for enrichment purpose. As a side benefit, you will be counted as a member, thus receiving our protection if situation warrants it." Lunaire cut in from across the room.

"How, then, are you going to make sure that I keep the secret?"

Kirin looked puzzled as Lunaire simply nodded to Alice before plopping himself down on a chair. She turned to the blond beside her, expecting answer.

"We have what you call Geas. It is a magical contract that will enforce the agreement. If the agreement is violated unintentionally, you will receive warning. But if it was intentional, the worse consequence would be death." Alice looked as if she chewed a bug.

"Is that even possible? I have never heard of magic capable of…oh probably ancient magic, is it?"

"It is certainly a very old spell, yes."

"Can I have some time to think over it?"

"I'm…afraid not, Kirika-san." Alice said softly.

The maple-haired woman uncharacteristically sighed and stared straight into Alice's eyes. She looked a few years older from the sudden burden dropping on her.

"Do you think I will regret this, Alice-san?"

"Oh, I assure you that you won't." Alice giggled light heartedly, which also brought smile to the woman beside her.

"Alright, but this better be worth it." Kirin raised her index finger as if lecturing a mischievous child, which only cause Alice's smile to widen.

Lunaire who was standing farther out was also relieved that Kirin finally agreed. The level of disappointment would be real if she turned down their offer. He, of course, would respect her decision whichever she chose.

"Lunaire, a Geas paper and a quill please." Alice bellowed as the burden was lifted.

"Coming right up!" A parchment, made from brown paper, and inkwell simply dropped out of the air into Lunaire's waiting hand. Both objects promptly flew off his palm with a casual wave toward Alice. Without even touching them, she directed the levitated items to one of the flat surface on the workspace not cluttered by equipment.

"Eh?" It happened so suddenly that it left Kirin's eyes wide open and her jaws slightly slackened.

What she saw defied her common sense. Precision magic casted quickly and accurately without CAD could be considered high-end technique. Casting without CAD was not unheard of, but rather common. It was a common knowledge among girls that weigh-type spell could greatly ease the burden on their legs when they are sitting in Seiza style. An indication can be seen when a certain girl falls silent for half a minute. However, this and that were on completely different leagues. Let alone half a minute, the speed was on part with CAD even if no one made any indication of fiddling with their devices at all. No light or spiraling code were visible.

That wasn't the end of her surprise. Objects appearing from thin air was another story altogether. Only two explanation were concocted, both equally outlandish. First was that he concealed the objects into the shop. However, with no indication of any bags, he could only carry them in open and she did not recall anything of that sort. This meant that he concealed it with magic since entering the shop. They had been in the shop for hours, but she did not even have the slightest clue of it. For such duration, the magic most likely had to be recast. She could only shudder at his capability to hide things in plain sight.

Another explanation was even more delusional. The alternative was that Lunaire somehow summoned objects from other location, which was unheard off in any field of magic except perhaps in the myth passed down by ancient magic practitioners.

As she was gaping, the enigmatic silver-haired magician that once set foot in her shop years ago approached her side and whispered suggestively.

"Saw anything you like?" He teased, aiming for the double entendre between magic and something else.

"Kya!" Letting out a startled cry, Kirin backed away, but quickly recomposed herself. Still no matter how hard she tried, she never did manage to wipe surprise off her face.

"It's a trade secret." Feeling like acting a little coy, he teased her further.

During the time it took for Lunaire to entertain himself, Alice already finished scribbling down the terms and conditions for the Geis. Afterward she remained focused on the paper for a while, searching for errors or loopholes that can be exploited. The key to maximizing effectiveness of Geis could be achieved through broad wording. The inclusive wording allowed for Geis to be restrictive through implicit understanding. The wording couldn't be too broad to be meaningless as it would defeat the purpose.

Her blond hair bobbed as she nodded in satisfaction. Straightening her hunched back and slowly rising from the chair, Alice presented the complete contract to Lunaire, who confirmed it with passing glance. The contract was ready, so he handed the parchment to Kirin.

Dumbly receiving the parchment, Kirin frowned as she eyed the content. The penmanship was superb and she could only marvel at the beauty of the words written within. However, she frowned because she found it odd for organization operating in Japan to be using English. Snapping out from her curiosity, he eyes decoded the message written in the contract and to her surprise, it was strangely lax. Especially after such a strong proclamation of secrecy, she thought that terms would be much more restrictive. Kirin was still skeptical about the functionality of the Geis contract, but she decided nonetheless that she would not risk it.

"Do you agree to the terms?" Crisp voice asked her.

"Ano…is it only this?" Her curiosity got the better of her as the question escaped her lips.

"Yes…want more? We just had to make sure that not a word about us leaves your mouth without our permission. That's all. Mostly it is for handling with unintentional leaks and also when you are questioned. However, the reason that we are trying to keep a lid on things is to make sure that you don't get questioned in the first place." Lunaire recited with practice ease.

"I see…"

"Here, Kirika-san. Please sign in the space indicated. As I wrote the contract, I already signed." The quill was handed over to the technician. At first, Kirin could only blink and fumbled, wondering about the proper way to use a quill. Much to Alice's chagrin, around ten minutes had passed before she finally signed the document.

On the side, Lunaire retrieved the quill and sign his name as the witness, sealing the agreement. The dull brown parchment glowed faintly blue, illuminating the content on it for all to see, while extra intricate marking appeared to form a background of interlocking magic circles. After few seconds, the influence of magic ran out as the paper came fluttering back down to Alice's waiting hands.

Letting out a long sigh, Lunaire was finally done with the tedious business. He never expected that a trip for CADs in the mall could be this exhausting.

"Well since the deal was sealed, let's us get back to the original purpose we came here. Don't you agree, Alice?" With the tension finally lifted, everyone in the room could finally breathe easy. The atmosphere was greatly lightened as both Lunaire and Alice smiled invitingly to the woman who escaped the chopping block.

"Okay…?" Kirin's head started to thump from frequent swings in the atmosphere around the two magicians. She found it very hard to understand them, but at least she got a vibe that they weren't bad people.

"As for the detail about our organization, we will send the details to you at a later date; along with your new assignment that I am sure will be up your alley." He remarked.

"…Alright?"

"Please don't be too gloomy, Kirika-san. Oh! I almost forgot! Welcome to Gensou no Isan, our organization. I am pleased to have you among our ranks and looking forward to your best effort." Alice was practically beaming at the prospect of gaining another ally that she could relate and speak with.

00000

There you go. Most of the vote said Gensou no Isan, so here it is. However, as the name is a mouthful, the members will refer to them as the organization for simplicity sake.

Still, I wonder what her assignment please.

As always, please leave a review. Thank


	21. Chapter 21: Entrance Ceremony Day I

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

The midterm is not over, but I am giving out a new chapter anyway. Enjoy! Still, this is an irregular, so don't expect updates like these until after the midterm is over.

Can you believe it? I am through 20 chapters now. Will I manage to make it to hundred chapters? Considering I just only scratched the surface of the original Mahouka story, I would say that it is very likely, but will take a lot of time. I mean, it took 20 to get to the enrollment arc. I wonder how many will I get out of this arc.

00000

 _ **April 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **, 2095**_

The childish, idealistic debates revolving around the clear disparity that exists between the capable and the incapable are not tolerated. This country, in the magic education department, does not have the luxury to do so. Thoroughly talent-driven, harshly competence-oriented, that's the world of magic.

The silver-haired magician scoffed as he locked his terminal after reading the lines. His frown gradually faded, replaced by depreciating smile. Sadness slowly clouded his eyes. The heavy sigh reverberated throughout the cramped tram car. Fluttering sceneries outside the car could not cheer him up.

No matter how long the time had passed, magical communities, different in many shapes and form, all glorified talent and achievement. He hated the notion of talent with passion. It was not his talent that made him greater than he could ever be if he had stayed with that wretched Meister family. It did not help when he had witnessed many who abandoned effort to idolize talent or resign themselves with the label of talentless fools.

However, as contradictory as it was, Lunaire could only grudgingly agree that accomplishment was everything from the tantalizing bribe to the delightful reward for hard work. In the end though, it comes down to the result. The world has never been such as sweet place where lousy thinking that "everyone is a winner" works and ironically, Lunaire even started to believe equality in death was false. The means to evade death were not equally open, evident from the fact that he was still alive and kicking after a century had passed.

Different players with different starting line were playing in the same twisted giant board and judged by the same standard. There are winners as there are losers, simple as that. There will always be the beginning and a conclusion. It all boils down to how much sacrifice one was willing to offer to reach that agreement.

He found this thinking to be both true and also unbelievably tasteless. In the face of insurmountable odds, not many returned victorious. He had seen many who were broken. As cruel as it was, underachiever was unmistakably underachiever. However, he believed that they were not stuck with the status and would be more than happy to water their effort to fruition.

Grim train of though was derailed when he felt warm and soft sensation on his cheek. It did not took him long to register Alice's fingertips brushing on his skin. Following her outstretched arm, he ended up staring into the brilliant green eyes and the face, radiated with concern.

"You look down."

"Ah…just thinking about something?"

"Do you need to talk?" Alice asked.

"Haha, hardly. As if I would trouble you with triviality like that." He laughed mirthfully, rustling locks of his eye-catching silver threads.

"You know that we all know each other for so long that the word reserve had already left our dictionary. Come on, tell us!" In seconds, Marisa bounced off her seat and was right in front of his face, a little too close for comfort. She had known Lunaire since she was a child, so not knowing what was bothering who could have been her brotherly figure did not sit well with her.

"Alright, alright, give me a room to breathe. It's just that I'm a bit irritated about this little Course 1 and Course 2 business they had going on." With his firm hands on her shoulders, he gently pushed Marisa off his seat. Taking his momentum, she plopped back down on her seat.

"So?" Impatient, Marisa asked.

"Is it about the fact that Marisa is the only one attending the "second-rate" course?" Alice opened the topic.

"Not really, it is not a question that Marisa is a first-rate magician and overly experience mad pyro technician in our book. I believe that whatever they labeled her as it does not hold any weight. She might not be the cream of the crop on their side, but psionic magic is not her expertise. Beside, with her effort, it is only a matter of time before Marisa becomes a Youkai Magician and blows them all out of the water." One eye closed as he nonchalantly remarked.

"Gee, thank ze! But I feel as if you are insulting me somehow."

"You are just imagining it. I am stating the obvious."

"…in truth, you were quite unhappy with their assessment, right?" Alice eyed him.

"Well…I guess a part of me did think that, but it can't be helped that they are clueless. Was it that obvious that I was upset? It seems that I require more practice with poker face."

"A little bit…" Alice giggled.

"Mah, what I truly am unhappy about this deterministic practice is that they truly are neglecting the chance to find hidden gems. Even with insufficient resources, it did not sit well with me to be so wasteful."

"I echo that!" Marisa chimed.

Their jovial conversation continued for a while until the passenger felt in their stomach as the tram decelerate toward destination.

"Finally our stop, I can't wait da ze!" The blond with longer hair leapt up with vigor. Without her usual witch hat, sunlight gently reflected off her cascading threads of gold. Lunaire thought that it was lovely in its own way.

Wry smile was painted on Alice's face while she shook her head at her friend's antic. Reaching out, her supple hand tug on his sleeve and roused him from his seat.

Lunaire did not know that his days would only be getting longer from that point.

* * *

In a certain room, a girl was sitting by her lonesome. The only thing accompanying her in the break room was a laptop. Displayed on the screen was the overall ranking of the coming freshman. However, while Shiba Miyuki who ranked overall top was interesting in her own right, the second place intrigued her the most.

This was not the first time she looked over the list. Since the time the list was made available to her, this person had been the focus of her attention. She knew this person. They ran into each other by coincident. In the spur of the moment, she helped, albeit quite forcefully, with his business. Nothing much was expected, other than fostering friendship with one of the few people who didn't glorify her status as the eldest daughter of a famous clan. However, over the span of few hours, everything about him convinced her that he was nothing short of extraordinary.

A teenager with striking long silver hair and soft facial features that could make people mistake him as a girl. His blue eyes reflected his age and were sparkling with playfulness, but at time thoughtfulness. She thought he was of her age at first, possibly even older. She was dreadfully wrong and greatly embarrassed by the ordeal. In her defense, she had never seen a case of a person growing fast to reach that appearance when they were thirteen.

Other than his unique appearance, he was tremendously and perhaps mysteriously talented with magic. His initial reaction was something noteworthy too. She was curious. It was widely acknowledged that magic is hereditary, but she had never heard of any family with indication of this trait. Eventually, she asked her bodyguard, Nakura, to utilize connections to investigate his history. Everything turned up clean, too clean in fact.

Staring at the screen as if trying to bore a hole through it, her eyes were focused on the picture of a teen, which strangely did not seem to change all that much from the first time they met, years ago.

"Just who are you, Lunaire Vivian Meister?" She swore internally to uncover the secret of this cheeky enigma, dangling in front of her.

"Just you wait!" She balled up her fist and huffed.

"Kaichou, please come and confirm out last preparation."

"Alright, Rin-chan, I am going."

The new girl could only shake her head exasperatingly to being called so informally by the student council president.

* * *

"!"

Startled by the sudden breath intake, Alice turned to Lunaire beside her. The three had been enjoying their walk through the walkway, peppered by rain of Sakura petals. It was rather peaceful, even with bustling people around. But due to close proximity, Alice could detect the twitch relatively easily.

"What is wrong?" Marisa craned her neck to him.

"I feel something bad will happen. At this moment, I feel the slight urge to run away."

"Surely you jest! I don't feel anything though."

Alice and Marisa only looked at him and blinked. Both of their eyes were filled with mirth as they saw Lunaire flustered and pressed down on his temple.

"Huh, great. So I am the one on the crosshair."

The magician was quite right in his statement as there was a package of problems and headaches coming with his name on it.

* * *

Around the start of the hour when the ceremony would start, the door to the auditorium opened with a thud. Some of the students close to the door turned to look at the last of the arrivals. At the sight of the exotic foreigners and their striking features, the waves of murmur propagated from the back row and gradually reached the front row. Many out of curiosity turned their eyes to the newcomers that were standing still as if searching for something.

Alice expected this reaction. As someone with some European ancestry, Alice and Lunaire looked very different from the rest in the auditorium. Although standard First High uniform did something to mitigate their differences, their light-colored-hair stuck out like a sore thumb. Especially for Lunaire as his silver hair that shone in the morning sunlight seemed to greatly attract attention.

Prior to even setting foot in this auditorium, Lunaire already prepared himself to tune out everything unrelated and went with his business. The sunlight passing through the window made it hard to distinguish features, but a raised waving hand guided him toward the mark.

Marisa who seemed to spot Mizuki even earlier was already barreling her way toward the timid girl. Lunaire and Alice looked at each other and let out a stifled laugh before walking down the same row of chairs, trying to catch up with the energetic girl.

Their actions did not go by unobserved as the whole auditorium was surprised. From what they could see, the blond with longer hair clearly did not have an emblem on her chest, so her sitting on the back row was normal. However, the rest of the group proudly displayed the eight-petal crest, but went ahead to join her anyway. Silent discussions erupted throughout the room.

Some were criticizing them for not knowing social order, while the others thought they were being goody-two-shoes, trying to act nice. These voices intensified after some of the students recognized the two as the second and third in overall examination score and the top two for practical.

If Lunaire were to be honest with himself, he was appalled to see how rudely they were discussing about him as if he wasn't present. He was sure they had some useful things to do and some level of decency. Besides he was sure that he was not attention this school as an entertainer or clown.

"Ya, Mizuki, how are you doing?"

"Good morning, I am doing alright." I hope you along with everyone are fine and well." Mizuki answered warmly as she stood from her seat.

"Thank you. You are as stuffy as always, Mizuki-san." Although he tried to be formal, concerning about the observing curious stare from many, his habit of addressing Mizuki by only first name belied their close relationship and familiarity.

"I hope the seats aren't occupied." Alice asked out of courtesy.

"It is empty. Please sit, Alice-san."

"Oi, oi, Mizuki-san, am I not allowed?" Lunaire dropped in his jest.

"Of course, Lunaire-san and Marisa-san, both of you are invited as well." Returning his jab, Mizuki covered her mouth and giggled amusedly.

"Then, without reserve. I hope you don't mind." Alice smiled at the redhead between her and Mizuki.

"Knock yourself over, I don't mind." She responded with bright smile.

Having received the permission, the three newcomers seated. Sensing that it was a prime time, Lunaire tried to start but was cut off.

"I'm Ciba Erika. Nice to meet you!" Erika saw that they were friendly acquaintances of Mizuki, so she decided to preemptively introduce herself.

"Ah…it's nice to meet you too. I'm Lunaire Vivian Meister. Call me Lunaire."

"I'm Alice Margatroid. Please to meet you."

"I'm Kirisame Marisa. Nice to meet you ze!"

The eyes finally turned to the boy at the end of the row. After a second of hesitation, he straightened his back and reigned in his surprise.

"I'm Shiba Tatsuya, nice to meet you."

"Nene, why are you sitting over here? Aren't Course 1 students supposed to be sitting up front?" Without further ado, Erika quickly addressed the elephant in the room and made the surrounding students gulped.

"Ara, is there a rule that said so?" Alice asked innocently.

"There is…none, but…"

"Then I see no problem sitting close to my friends, right? Still as much as I found this conversation to be pleasant, it seems that the Ceremony is starting." Just as she finished, the girl turned toward the front and straightened into a poise position, like an elegant swan. The conversation naturally died down as ceremony began in earnest.

00000

And there you go. There is not much action going on, but I want this fiction to be realistic, so I try to flesh out as many scene and interaction as possible.

If you expect a quick train ride of action to crashing Nine School Competition, too bad, because it will be a long while before I reach that point.


	22. Chapter 22: Entrance Ceremony Day II

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Long time no see. Finally the majority of the storm died down. I finally have some more chapter to publish. I just need to keep typing. Still, I am glad that some more people followed this story. It really brought smile to my face.

00000

Although he felt that the speech his sister gave was magnificent, he could not help but be amused at how small the world was. There was no way he could forget his silver hair. He met this teen before in Okinawa, however they did not exchange more than a few words. But for some reason, he felt that he encountered this teen more than twice. Tatsuya couldn't really put a finger on how he felt that he should know this teens from many run-in.

The ceremony ended and each student went about to the venue to receive their ID cards. Going on their separate ways, those that remained were Mizuki, Erika and Marisa. They were rather excited that they were all assigned to the same E class. However, when asked if he wanted to go to homeroom together, Tatsuya declined.

"Sorry, I am meeting up with my little sister."

"Heeh…if she is Shiba-kun's little sister, then she must be really cute right?" Erika asked.

"Your sister is Shiba Miyuki, the freshman representative, right? You must be proud to have a sister like her." With a smile, Mizuki asked as if she was already sure of the answer, following with a compliment.

"Eh? Really? Then, are you twin?"

"I have often been asked that, but we are not twins. I was born in April, while she was born in March. If I was born one month earlier or she was born a month later, then we wouldn't be in the same school year."

"Hmm…I guess that really makes things complicated huh?" Erika asked without bad intent.

"That aside, it's surprising that you can tell. Shiba is not such a rare family name after all."

"You two have very similar aura."

"Mizuki is right ze! It is hard to mistake you two as not a sibling." Marisa cut in with understanding look and nodded.

"Ho…Shibata-san, Kirisame-san, It's amazing for you two to be able to tell by our auras…Your eyes must be really good." He questioned in deep tone.

"Eh? Mizuki is wearing glasses, you know?"

"I don't mean that. Besides, Shibata-san's glasses have no degree in them, right?"

"Ah yes, it doesn't have degree in them. I am surprise you noticed. It is to help with my oversensitivity to pushion emission. I can control it most of the time, but I do slip up. As for Marisa-sn, she could control it as if it was just breathing. Not many could escape her eyes when she is serious." Mizuki made gesture at Marisa.

"It's nothing special, ze! You will come to get it in time." Despite what she said, Marisa still puffed her chest up with pride.

"I see." Internally, Tatsuya slightly panicked as he was someone with something to hide. It seemed that he had to be careful around these two.

* * *

"I didn't expect much."

"…You are quick to judge."

"You know that you are agreeing with me inside, right?"

"I guess." Alice sighed.

Immediately after receiving their IDs, Alice and Lunaire separated from the group briefly to observe the people around the auditorium. The result did not please them, especially their evaluations for first-course students.

"Complacent, self-entitled, self-serving, self-righteousness, low self-esteem, do I have to say more, Alice?"

"No, you don't have to."

"We really should have tanked our score."

"It can't be helped. Still, we at least try to tank our writing exam."

"Huh, but still here we are, Mr. Second and Ms. Third."

Although still huffing annoyingly, they dragged their feet toward the exit that Marisa was near. As he neared them, he heard a familiar melodious voice behind him.

"Onii-sama, sorry for the wait."

They saw Shiba Miyuki approaching the group and naturally started a conversation with Tatsuya. It seemed however that Miyuki was angry inside for a few split-second. Deciding to join in with the group anyway and at least introduce themselves to Tatsuya's sister, the two magicians were interrupted in their advance.

"So, there you are, Lunaire-kun."

Damn was what flashed through Lunaire's mind. He knew it was useless when Mayumi flashed him a Cheshire grin during her speech, but he prayed anyway. Sometimes, he curses god. This was one of the occasions. Resigned, but determined, if he would be hit for certain, he would be sure to strike first.

"What is it, Kaichou-sama? Is there a reason that someone of your stature to speak with me?" Sarcastically, he replied with his back facing the black-haired beauty.

"Ara, how cold. Even though it has been a while, you used to call me Mayumi."

"Ahaha, I am sure I used to address you as Saegusa-san before. Besides, we have public image to maintain, but…" Lunaire replied normally, but soften at the end.

He left the sentence hanging, intentionally. The pause lasted for a few seconds with Mayumi hanging on, trying to hear the end of his sentence. Inner devil bared his grin when he saw this. The effort to not smirk took a lot out of Lunaire. It was the time to turn the table and let this she-devil taste her own medicine.

Pretending to look left and right as if worrying of any onlookers, he leaned closer to Mayumi. Appropriately bending down, his face was brought close. His prismatic blue eyes stared into her red. The next words that left his mouth were soft and subdued.

"Since it was for public image, I am sure I wouldn't mind addressing you like that on a more…" He giggled softly. "…intimate occasion. You wouldn't mind, right? Ma-yu-mi." Lunaire whispered the last part.

The surprise attack was more effective than he thought, causing Mayumi to turn scarlet in seconds. As before, she was a teaser, but couldn't take it. For the next few seconds, she was reduced to stammering mess, unable to form coherent reply. Maintaining his close proximity, he admired his handiwork, while smiling warmly to further unnerve her.

"Is there anything wrong?" He pressed.

"Ah-I-ano…" Mayumi was still unable to recompose, entertaining Lunaire inner hidden sadist greatly in the meantime.

"What are you…" A loud outburst was from the male student behind Mayumi who Lunaire ignored until now. Lunaire was slightly irritated and wondered if he had to interrupt now, but alas, he had enough fun for now. Pulling back, Lunaire returned to his standard posture.

"Y-you!" Mayumi loudly protested, which made Lunaire giggled.

"I started to wonder when you will snap out of your daze, Saegusa-san." He laughed playfully to rub his victory in.

"Just you wait, Lunaire-kun, I will definitely get you back for this."

"You can certainly try, but you might not succeed, if your losing streak years ago were of any indication."

"Grr" Although she was grinding her teeth and growling bitterly, her small stature pacify all the intimidation that would otherwise be associated with current expression.

"Well, well, don't glare so hard at me. You will get wrinkles, you know?" If one looked hard enough, behind his overly concerned expression, Lunaire was snickering. The drift was not lost with the girl in front of Lunaire, which made her vein popped.

It was not often or him to tease someone this ruthlessly. Most people he spent time with are relatively immune to simpler teasing, but not Mayumi. Someone like Alice or Reisen would only giggle and smile, while Marisa would…be too dense to catch the drift. Having someone lashing out and pouting was refreshing to Lunaire.

"Lunaire, don't tease her too much. She is, after all, your senior." Alice sighed.

"Of course, my apology, Senpai." Beaming, he was totally not reflecting at all.

At this point the attention of the student council president was shifted to the blond girl who seemed to be very well acquainted with Lunaire. Mayumi smirked as she formulated her plan.

"Good morning, Senpai, I am Alice Margatroid and nice to meet you. Please excuse him for his antics." Bowing, Alice introduced herself.

"Ara, how polite. I am Saegusa Mayumi, pleasure to meet you. Are you two perhaps friends?"

"Yes, we have known each other for…a while." The definition of a while in Alice's and Mayumi's sense almost made Lunaire cracked up.

"Is that so, poor you. I am sure his teasing must have done you a number." Lunaire could practically see Mayumi's crocodile tears as she faked and tried to rope Alice in as victims. The blond only giggled.

"Initially, but to be fair, I have done quite a number on him too."

"Yah, there are many times with Alice that I can only reply 'well played.'" Lunaire added nonchalantly.

"Is that so…" Mayumi looked puzzled.

"But enough of that, Senpai, don't you have something to discuss with the new student representative? Are you sure that you should be wasting time here?" Lunaire switched the topic.

"That's right" Mayumi naturally replied, but wondered how could the boy possibly know that. Deciding to shelf it, she continued on to converse with Mayumi.

When the she-devil finally left to plague someone else, Lunaire still wasn't relieved immediately. There was no way he could properly relax under the intense glare from a boy trailing behind Mayumi. He did his best to ignore the hostility, but it annoyed him nonetheless.

"Now, Alice, let's do something smar."

"What's on your mind?"

"Grab Marisa and get out of here."

"Sure, do you have something against Saegusa-san or something."

"No, nothing like that, but she is a big teaser, a relentless one to boot." He paled slightly as he recalled her forceful persona at the café and CAD shop.

"Maybe if you tone it down and don't tease her first."

"Negative, she is natural and hates to lose. The best option is to never let the initiative of the conversation fall into her hands."

"If you say so… Let's get to Marisa then." Alice shook her head, while smiling wryly.

* * *

Declining Tatsuya's group to a cake shop, the trio headed straight home. The two stories house was rather large and spacious, locating quite some distance away from city center. Contary to its large size, it did not stand out in its neighborhood all that much. The modern and clean look of the house was very welcoming to the returning three.

"Tadaima" The three chimed in as they entered.

"Okaerinasai, how is your day, everyone?" A calm and gentle voice of a woman in her mid-twenty greeted them.

"It was alright, Honami-san. How was yours?" Alice smiled.

"I am doing great actually. Lunch will be ready quite soon, so please wait a little."

"I can't wait. Honami-san's cooking is quite nice." Sakuya's cooking was better, but Honami's was getting there. Amusingly, she served as some kind of body guard, but still could cook quite nicely. She was very similar to Sakuya, except that she smiled a lot more.

"Thank you, Lunaire-san. All of you go get change or relax. Reisen-san should be back soon. Do you have any plan in town today?" Honami voice was muffled a bit from the kitchen.

"Not that we know off." Lunaire answered.

"Then I will be in the lab, ze!" Marisa excitedly announced and bolted to the door of the basement.

Alice and Lunaire stared at each other for a bit and giggled. It was just like Marisa to be like that. She was overjoyed and bouncing around with her hand itching after she got her hands on the Hihiirokane sample from Lunaire. They just hoped that she didn't go overboard with it and level the entire neighborhood. Considering that it was the core component of Marisa's mini-Hakkero, they had the reason to be concerned.

"I hope she restrains herself more." Alice remarked.

* * *

Day reconnaissance was assigned to Reisen. The moon rabbit left a dawn before the trio went to the entrance ceremony. The points of interest for the day were shrines and temples in the vicinity of Tokyo for any trace of magic similar to theirs. However, they did not hope for much, considering how thin the mana level in the air was.

Throughout the day, Reisen grew more worried. It was like everyone expected. No trace of mana magic users at all. It seemed as if people simply forget about the art completely. Even at temples with magic users, all of them were using psionic waves.

Reisen still couldn't believe it. For these modern magicians to completely replace the original magic users, even from those she heard as ancient magicians, they still did not use mana.

As for Youkai, she didn't find any, at least the ones that were still active. Mononoke and fairies were non-existence, but it was not strange considering abysmally low mana. However, what assured her was the remnants of the more powerful beings, the gods. Although only tiny flames remained, they were in the state of suspended animation. It was rather sad to see the kin of Kanako and Suwako in such state, but as long as they were alive, there would be ways.

Landing on a branch, she surveyed the last location, a quaint temple. There seemed to be a crowd of people practicing some martial arts moves in the clearing in the compound. She couldn't sense mana but there were traces of psion, so again the disappointment.

"Another miss. Well, it's not as if I expected much." Reisen sighed heavily.

"Hoh, if I may ask, what is it that you were expecting here?" A mysterious voice was from behind her.

"Who is there?" Surprised that someone could slip through her senses and approached, Reisen still recovered quickly. Covering her vitals with her arms, she crouched down as her red eyes scan for target. Unfortunately, with her normal sight she could see no one.

"Mah, don't be too surprised. I just want to know what are you doing in my turf." The mysterious voice continued, mixing with snickers.

Irritated, Reisen clicked her tongue. Instinct ingrained into soldier made her abnormal wary of unknown. Prompted by his mocking tone, the moon rabbit searched through her extra sense again. Faintly, but nonetheless present, a spot radiated the strange sensation that she associated with psion. Without allowing the opponent to reach, she sent a narrow red beam toward the tree that the entity hid behind.

"Not bad, but still not…" The same mocking voice definitely came from the figure in black clothing. Unfortunately, he couldn't finish his snide remark as he had to cross his arms intercepting the kick to his face.

By any stretch of imagination, Reisen could be described as anything but complacent. After blasting out the initial beam, she immediately crouched down. The instant the figure left out of cover, Reisen sprung and delivered a vicious flying kick. To make sure it connected, she even utilized her power to conceal her real attack angle. Still her opponent blocked it. On this point, she had to concede that the opponent had relatively good skill.

00000

There you go, wrapping up the experience at First High. The trio was not pleased with the current magic school.

However, remember, that there will always be other side. While they were going to school, other Touhou casts were not sitting around on their butt. They are living their own lives, so I will have to cover that too, or else, what is the point?

As you can see, Reisen is dealing with her own kind of mess.


	23. Chapter 23: Rough Start

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Wow, last chapter was so funny. I mean; it just had to be that letter. For those of you who read it after the correction, the last "kick" word in previous chapter was misspelled with one D letter. You figure the rest out. The sentence just went so wrong.

It just kind of made my day, so I decided to leave a mark and get some good laugh out of it here.

Also, thanks a lot for notifying that mistake. As a thank for entertaining me, I will release one more chapter _

00000

"!"

Seeing the back of his master unnaturally shook, the martial disciple approached the man in black. However, before he could ask, his master already left.

Out of blue, the strange sensation ticked the master off. The master in black was no one other than Kokonoe Yakumo, a self-proclaimed Shinobi.

The feeling was so faint that he wouldn't have noticed it if he didn't pay close attention. At first thought, leaving the observer alone might be the best course of action. It was not like the training session was any great secret or something. Still, Yakumo knew to trust his instinct so he immediately pursued the target. While he would like to think of it as pursuit, the target was actually stationary, showing no sign of moving as he approached.

He snorted. Even if he closed in, the opponent did not show sign of moving or noticing him. He wondered if the opponent was overconfident or just plain unskilled. Amusingly, he would get more than he bargained for, but he didn't know that presently.

Picking a sturdy branch, he landed on it and observed. Long flowing light purple hair stood out from the greenery. His opponent stood proudly, observing the temple perimeter. From her frame, white blouse and blue skirt, Yakumo could safely conclude that he was dealing with a woman. Thinking that just standing around wouldn't achieve anything, he called out his question.

"Hoh, if I may ask, what is it that you were expecting here?"

While her reaction was nothing unexpected, Yakumo completely did not expect such a fierce counterattack. More surprisingly, she quickly saw through his disguised presence. Well, it was not that he had the luxury to think too deeply about it.

After the flying kick, barrage of punches descended upon his body. Well-executed, accurate and fluid, but techniques were a little lacking. He thought that, but later received a rude awakening in a form of a punch to a Solar Plexus.

"What, I thought I blocked…ah." Yakumo found the reason. What he blocked was simply an illusion.

"Parade?! No, that's not how parade function. Who are you? What is your purpose?" He landed and entered battle stance, but stayed put. The purple-haired girl also stopped to stare. The silence continued.

"Silent treatment, eh?" As soon as he finished, Reisen rushed forth, chaining barrage of punches and kicks. Sadly, melee fighting on the ground against an expert in Taijutsu with her self-improvised techniques was an uphill one to say the least. Besides, her melee skills were mostly meant for midair combat.

Resigned, for being pushed back to such extent, Reisen decided to bring out some skills.

Seeing an opening, Yakumo slid in close and delivered a high kick to her face. However, before it connected, her eyes flashed bright red. The next thing he knew was that he was sent rag dolling by a strange red ripple in the air.

"Not enou-" Normally, recovering from such a strong impact would be hard, but with the aid of Ninjutsu, it wasn't anything special. But he played into her hand. Expecting some kind of melee attack, he totally did not expect his vision to be filled with bright red.

The red cannon shell exploded. Reisen's red orbs searched around for the man, but only caught sight of a Kunai flying from the direction. Reisen only lazily swatted it out of the air like a fly.

"Shinobi." Reisen concluded. At least she had heard about them enough to identify their favorite sleight of hand.

"Oh, how sharp. It is an honor to finally hear your voice again." The smug voice came from behind her.

Quickly turning around, she faked to be irritated and surprised, which Yakumo immediately bought into. Seeing her confused expression, he chose to strike, appearing in front of her with his palm strike.

"I have nothing against you, but…" Yakumo said solemnly.

" _Weak Heart: 'Demotivation'_." Reisen declared her spellcard. Red flash erupted from her eyes, followed by the sound of something shattering.

The proper balance of the man broke immediately as he was knocked backward. His typically almost closed eyes were wide open. Similar to common shock, his pupils were constricted. Against normal Gensokyo residents, this spellcard would only stun, confuse and defuse their power, so Reisen remained on guard. Yet, the man genuinely did not move.

"Ha?! Are you alright?" Under normal circumstance, she would not extend sympathy to enemy, but this was a special case as the man seemed to keel over from non-lethal spell.

After confirming he was still breathing, she stared into his conveniently wide open eyes. The lunatic light would hopefully confuse his memory well enough. Continuing to stay would be asking for trouble, so she obediently withdrew.

* * *

"Tadaima"

"Okaerinasai, Reisen-san. How is your day? I hope everything went well."

"Unfortunately, Honami-san, it didn't."

"What? Did someone see you?"

"Intercepted."

"We can discuss more about that later. The lunch is ready. Can you please call everyone?"

"Alright." Reisen nodded and began making her way upstairs.

* * *

It was rather easy getting both Alice and Lunaire out of their seats. The hard part was Marisa, who was completely absorbed in her experiment. Reisen went to rouse the two magicians first to be her back up.

By the time they dragged Marisa from the basement, Honami finished preparing the table. The meal proceeded rather plainly. Conversations weren't all that much present, but at least it wasn't uncomfortable because everyone was smiling. Though, it wasn't meant to last.

"Reisen, something seems to be on your eyes." Alice asked.

"…At the last location, I was spotted. Not only that, I was forced into a fight."

From the bombshell dropped by the moon rabbit, the air in the room suddenly was riddled by tension. Everyone's gazes were focused on Reisen, but nobody said anything to interrupt her. They knew Reisen well enough. The straight-laced rabbit knew how to do her job properly.

"It was the same as all places you sent me. Nothing related to our magic or youkai, only some remnant of gods. However, at the last temple, I was noticed and one person came after me. He wasn't that strong per say, but at least he could approach me undetected."

"…And that might be all it takes to bring down someone. Then?" Alice prodded, worried.

"I knocked him out with my spellcard and left. Uncertain if he reported my presence to anyone. End of report."

"You blasted him with spellcard?!" Slamming her palm on the table, Alice bellowed incredulously. It was good call on Honami's part to clear the table as soon as everyone finished.

"That's it, Reisen, well done. You taught the bastard a good lesson, didn't you? Haha, he really picked a wrong person to mess with ze!" Marisa laughed boisterously.

"I only used _Weak Heart: Demotivation_ , he just keel over."

"Eh, he died?!" Honami, who just returned, shouted.

"No he was still breathing. He just was pushed back and fell over. His eyes were wide and pupils were constricted as if in shock, but very severe one." Reisen answered.

"Then it was working as intended. However, the shock should only cause headache and stuns them." Alice offered.

"Exactly." Reisen concluded.

The discussion went on for hours until dinner. Although the sample was small, the people on this side seemed to be more susceptible to magic for some reason. More testing was needed. There were still a lot of things they want to learn about magician population on this side. It might be the time they put their new member to work.

Another issue of importance was that they now had another unknown factor to account for. The man that Reisen spared was probably some kind of Shinobi. It didn't take much to figure what they specialized in. The probability of them attack was low, but their threat to their secrecy couldn't be ignored. They were in a bind for a moment.

* * *

 _ **Next Day**_

"Onii-sama, something seems to be on your mind."

"It is nothing much, Miyuki."

"If Onii-sama said so…"

Reaching the top of the stair, the quaint little gate was opened to welcome them to the usual temple. Tatsuya confidently strode in to the temple. Contrary to his expectation, he was assaulted right of the bat, no question asked. The assailant was no one other than Kokonoe Yakumo himself.

Blocking an overhead strike, Tatsuya tried to counterattack. Sadly, the initial surprise attack wrestled the initiative in this fight already. Using the time lag before Tatsuya counterattack, Yakumo threw out a straight palm strike, while trying to sweep his opponent off his feet.

Tatsuya's almost natural deftness allowed him to keep on avoiding, but he couldn't find opportunity to attack.

"Attacking out of blue, as expected of a Shinobi." The snide remark from Tatsuya served to calm his own somewhat rattled state.

"Not bad, Tatsuya-kun, but can you take this?" After his compliment, Yakumo began employing his prided Ninjutsu.

In term of their Taijutsu, Tatsuya could keep up with Yakumo. But when Yakumo broke his Ninjutsu out of the box Tatsuya started to be pushed back into defeat.

* * *

At the invitation of Miyuki, they started their breakfast. It was then that Tatsuya frown was noticeable.

"It is rare, Master, for you to attack from the beginning. Usually, you will send your disciples up front first. To what I owed my pleasure to?" Tatsuya finally let out the question he bottled since the beginning.

"Ah…Ne, Tatsuya-kun, how long did our fight last?" Yakumo questioned.

"…about over ten minutes." A bit irritated, Tatsuya humored his master anyway.

"To be completely honest, you are currently the most talented and skilled disciple of mine. After all you lasted a whole ten minutes, but still, you couldn't defeat me."

"So?" Tatsuya pressed.

"I will not sugarcoat it. In just under 3 minutes, I was completely knocked out." Yakumo dropped his happy-go-lucky attitude as his eyes narrowed.

"3 minutes? Knocked out? By whom?" Tatsuya was surprised.

"I don't know. She was secretly observing this place. Even I couldn't detect her that easily. When I confronted her, I ended up cold." Yakumo cut down his story.

"Do you remember her appearance?" Miyuki joined in.

"No, and that is the strange part. I only remembered what happen, but nothing about her at all. All that comes to mind is bright red light. That's it."

"Probably magic. But wait, how do you know that she was a she?" Tatsuya looked puzzled, but his mind was running a mile a minute. An unknown threat was something he hated.

"I hope you be careful, Tatsuya-kun. We don't know anything about the other party at all, other than that she could best me in close quarter combat, and that is saying something."

Tatsuya could only nod solemnly to his master's warning.

* * *

School was unnecessary for the siblings. Easily, they could have acquired the best tutor with the financial assets and influence backing them. The whole charade of them joining a high school was the wish of Miyuki herself, which Tatsuya couldn't object to.

Before long, the two separate to their respective classes, one for an overachiever and another for underachiever. Tatsuya soldiered on to first year class E, tuning out condescending and arrogant insults thrown at him.

Conversations already started long before Tatsuya arrived. Trying to go about his business, he was stopped. A blond flash, Tatsuya felt his shoulder slapped.

"Oh, you are here. We were waiting for you ze!"

"You are pretty…active, Kirisame-san."

"You don't have to be that stuffy, just call me Marisa."

The tall teen knew better than to humor casual demand to be called by first name. They were not friendly enough to be on first name basis, but he could at least tell that Marisa, Erika and Mizuki meant him no harm.

"It seems we'll be next to each other, please to make your acquaintance." Tatsuya said politely after he sat down in his assigned seat beside Mizuki.

"Yes, I'll be in your care."

The rest of the morning went by normally. By definition, normality equals boring in Grimoire of Marisa. However, the group managed to gain a friend or enemy in case of Erika, Saijou Leonhart or Leo for short.

From Marisa observation, everyone in the group was a cut over many in the school, personality wise. Although they might be a bit unreliable, they were much better off with that than overconfidence. Besides, it was not as if she could credibly comment on their reliability. If she blew up a few hundred less chemical flasks, then she might be eligible to comment.

* * *

At the same time in Class A, Alice and Lunaire were having their own kind of peril. The qualities that Tatsuya listed off were even more evident. They were both disgusted. Not only that, the teachers were also self-entitled, thinking they were the best of the best and deserving to teach only the talent cadre of students. Even all they could do was parroting definitions, Lunaire mused.

What right did the duo with the overwhelming practical and shamefully low paper marks have to say such, one might ask themselves. They would not have the gall to say such if they had not gone through enough materials to cover their entire first year, even without attending lectures. With such insightful lessons that did not even add anything extra to their own cursory research and arrogant attitude to go along with, no wonder both Lunaire and Alice weren't amused.

If they had known this, they would have tanked both tests. The only reason they pretended to perform poorly on paper was to make them be underestimated, talented without intellect. Ironically, this placed them in the den of just that, luckily talented, but without doubt, lacking in intellect department. Their ego truly outgrew their intellect. Rather than bearing with this, they both would rather be labeled underachiever and enjoy the freedom of no instruction. Although they were essentially ageless, the concept of wasting time still was valid with them. As uncharacteristic of him as it was, he was tempted to sleep it off, but his pride didn't permit it.

So their morning was spent pretending to be listening, while their minds retreated to somewhere more productive.

Arrogant wasn't present in the whole class though as one lone girl, surrounded by many, and seemed to be immune to it. Showered by flattery, she wasn't please with it, but continued to cordially interact with any who talked to her. During the lesson, she was unperturbed by any.

Since the first time they met in Tatsuya group yesterday, the felt something was off with her, but at least she was nice enough as a person. Alice and Lunaire sadly almost had to resign to just be loners to presence their sanity in this school.

00000

And there you go, one more chapter. I hope I did not make the same awkward and very funny typo like last time.

So how was the fight? I hope I didn't completely destroy it as I am not very comfortable with fight scenes just yet. If you asked why it was so short, it is because this serves to unnerve people on the receiving in. Now people started to suspect that there are some pretty powerful players in the circle.

Thank you for reading and please review as it motivates me very well.


	24. Chapter 24: Squabbling Children

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Long time no see; the week had been busy for me. Since one more follower just joined the fold, I think it is high time for me to crank out a chapter. Hope you guys enjoy.

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"Just when I think I can finally get a break from that class." Lunaire groan.

"Un."

The two youkai magicians watched as the events unfolded from the edge of the cafeteria. When they arrived, they saw Tatsuya's group, joined by Marisa, sitting on one of the table. The atmosphere was peaceful, at least until Miyuki decided to join them. It wasn't her fault per say. The bloom mob was the cause for tension.

Alice was restrained from action as this would be a great opportunity for Marisa to learn about real world. She looked dissatisfied, but grudgingly nodded.

The result was that both Erika and Marisa had the backbone to stand up. Good for them, but without Tatsuya to defuse the situation, it would have gone spectacularly south. If Lunaire was completely honest with himself, he secretly wished that Marisa would introduce them to her Master Spark.

Sensing that the situation was resolved, the duo left, having lost their appetite to the disgust welling in their stomach.

* * *

"Here we go again. Trouble seems to love Marisa, or was it perhaps Miyuki?" Lunaire comment sarcastically.

"Which one doesn't matter. The problem is now." Alice quipped.

"Right."

They hastened their pace toward the main gate where two groups were in a standoff.

* * *

"How about if you cut it right there? She had expressed her wish to return with her brother and I don't think any of you are in the place to deny her decision?" Surprisingly firm response came from Mizuki, who everyone thought was shy. Her eyes were sharply focused as she glared at the opposing group.

"We've asked her!"

"That's right! We're sorry for Shiba-san, but we just want a little more time!"

"Ha! That's just self-justification. Find a better time for it." Leo laughed heartily.

"Maybe if you had asked, she might have agreed." Erika mocked.

"Shut up! Another class, much less Weeds, has no right to interfere in matters concerning us Blooms."

"And on what ground should Miyuki-san forsake her family time in order to make room for yours, who are just mere classmates." Everyone's eyes were on Mizuki. Erika and Leo were shocked beyond words to hear such tone from meek and gentle girl like Mizuki. The bloom mob did not take it well and many were red in the face already.

"Besides, why are you so proud of your bloom status? Does flaunting around something you were born with that gratifying? Even though you did nothing at all to deserve it? Really, is that so? How pathetic, clinging desperately on to the thing you didn't earn while having nothing to pride as your own work. Mah, whatever, it just shows the quality of your poor vessel as a person." Marisa, finally snapped, directed her venomous remarks at the boy at the front. She would tolerate no more of such insults that belittle anyone with backbone to desperately work. Marisa would not allow it.

"How dare you?! Even though you are just lowly Weeds, you?!"

"What? Hit the spot?" Marisa snickered evilly.

"Damn you! Then let me show you what being a superior mean!" Well, the guy in the front snapped first, pulling his pistol-shaped specialized CAD.

However, no matter how close it resembled a lethal weapon, it didn't matter. After all, there was no way anyone, who has actually ever faced Danmaku (bullet hell) before, to cower before such toy. This not only applied to Marisa, but also unexpectedly Mizuki. Although not to the extent of many at Scarlet Devil Mansion, Mizuki did receive some training for self-protection too.

Believe it or not, he previously unappreciated ability, over-sensitivity to Spirit Particle Emission, gave her additional advantages in all ranges of battle. As long as she could cope with emotional feedback from seeing pushion, then she could prove to be very formidable. Currently, she could use them in battle for one or two minutes before strong emotions emitted by pushion of her enemy overwhelm her. Still in that minutes span, Mizuki combat ability jumped by leaps and bounds.

In close quarter and short range, she would always be aware of enemy's position by following their pushion trails. Even from behind, she could feel their emotion and react. At mid and long range, her unique eyes aided in both target acquisition and accuracy of her strikes. For this reason, Mizuki was instructed by many instructors, such as Meiling and Lunaire.

Pale light was emitted from the boy as he leveled his CAD at Marisa. But he was far too optimistic that he would even have the chance to pull the trigger.

"Argh!" The boy screamed pitifully.

On the ground was the boy who had no idea what happened. Beside his downed figure, there were two girls, one standing and one crouching. The moment the boy showed his CAD, both Marisa and Mizuki rushed forward. As the meeker one, Mizuki only grabbed his CAD and his elbow joint. Giving only minimal force, she applied leverage to force the boy to drop his CAD and snatched it.

On Marisa side, she did not have the leisure to play nice with someone who existence was an insult to her very way of life. So she just rushed in to sweep his legs off the ground. The smug boy did not even know why he fell backward.

"Mah, mah, what are you thinking, pointing such dangerous object at us." Marisa taunted.

"Oh my." Erika stopped. Her baton was in mid-swing.

"Whoa." Leo who lagged behind was surprised that the girls were already engaging their foes. He could only awkwardly freeze in his tack.

This shock spread like ripple. No one was able to act, save for one of Miyuki's female classmate who begun to reach for her CAD. Tapping a few buttons, she got the activation sequence rolling.

"I suggest you better stop right there." The flat voice from her side spooked her. She promptly turned to her side and founded that her wrist was grasped. Precisely, it was grasped to completely cover her access to CAD control panel, while at the same time mashing all the buttons to cancel the activation. She no longer had the ability to cast anything. With only a few moments to reorganize herself, the girl was surprised by the voice of another girl.

"Stop right there!"

* * *

Lunaire felt the urge to run, for his minor bane called Saegusa Mayumi was here. But with Marisa at the center of the stage, he must see this to end. Alice easily understood the meaning of Lunaire's side glance and stood firmly. A gentle squeeze and tug at the female student wrist by Lunaire also brought her attention to him.

"Shh!" That was all it took to keep the girl quiet, so he naturally let go of her wrist.

"You are students from Class 1A and 1E aren't you? I will hear of your circumstance. Please come along." The girl following Mayumi said chillingly. Even after a few years, it didn't take long for Lunaire to recognize the girl as Watanabe Mari. With such forceful and tomboyish mannerism, there was no way he would forget.

Lunaire turned toward Tatsuya and gave him a faint smile to signify his queue. Even if Tatsuya did not visibly nod, Lunaire knew that he got the situation in the bag. Tatsuya and Miyuki approached Mari.

"We're sorry. The prank went too far."

"Prank?"

"Yes, Morisaki's quick draw is famed, so I asked for a demonstration. It seems to have gone out of hand." Tatsuya politely explained to the surprise of many.

Mari inspected the scene and gave out a cold smile. No matter how one looked at it, the confrontation certainly did happen. She wondered how they would uselessly wriggle out of trouble.

"Then why did that girl from 1A tried to use attack magic?" Mari pressed.

"She was just spooked. Her reflex was something else. Besides, it was simple flash to cause temporary blindness. It wasn't anything to be concerned." Tatsuya continued shamelessly.

"Oh and I am sure she might just accidentally press some buttons, so I took the liberty to help her. In the end, she didn't exactly do anything, right?" Lunaire chuckled as he argued. To Mari's irritation, the magic activation light fizzled away without her intervention, so he could comfortably stretch it as accident not malice. She looked up and grimaced. Mari knew the teen and knew better than to fight his silver tongue, but her pride as public morals committee member didn't allow her to easily back down. Still, something caught her mind.

"Wait! Leaving matter whether it was an accident or not, it seems you're able to somehow read activation sequence before it is deployed." Mari turned to her original target.

"I'm not good at practical, but I'm confident in my analysis."

"You misinformation skill is quite something." Mari glared.

"You gave me too much credit." Lunaire took a stab to alleviate tension, which in turn invited a death glare from Mari. Of course, it felt like breeze to him anyway.

"Grr." Mari silently growled. Not only did they manage to squeeze themselves out, Lunaire just had to taunt her.

"Mari, it's fine already. It was really a demonstration, right?" Mayumi who remained silent earlier asked, to which Tatsuya nodded.

"I am only a good Samaritan passing by, so I didn't see the beginning. If he insisted, then so be it." Lunaire acted dumb, shifting responsibility away.

"Well, there is no rules against that, but only if you don't activate your magic. Please be careful in the future." Mayumi red orbs gleamed with mischief and locked onto Lunaire.

"…Since President herself insisted, I will let you off easy this time. I don't want there to be next time." Mari turned around after the related party bowed to her in acknowledgement.

Just when everyone thought it was over, Mari managed to get Tatsuya to spit out his name. Who knew what plan she had for him in the future?

* * *

"Thank you, Tatsuya-kun, for diffusing the situation for us. I have to apologize to you on behalf of my classmates. It seems that their pride clouded their judgment." Many could immediately pick up the sarcasm and contempt in his words. Many in Class E noticed quite early that he was not thrilled with his classmates' action.

"There is nothing you should apologize for." Tatsuya smiled wryly and cordially replied.

"Oi, what are you doing apologizing to lowly Weeds? Whose side are you on?" The boy practically yelled. Lunaire recognized him and honestly detested his condescending attitude since the first time Morisaki Shun decided to open his mouth in class.

"I highly suggest you can it, Morisaki Shun. It is unsightly." Another surprise of the day came from Alice.

In class, although overshadowed by Miyuki, Alice did receive her fair share of flattery from the crime of her beauty. Unlike Lunaire who was putting on stoic façade, she was willing to appear at least cordial. Talk when talked to, Alice earned the reputation of being reserved lady. Nobody in Class A expected her to throw out such scathing remark. Neither did they expect her small frame to appear intimidating.

"What did you say?! Who do you think you are?" A third rate line from a third rate person, Alice could only sigh.

"I said stop it. Your behavior is unsightly. I am pretty sure I said it clearly the first time." Without sparing him a shred of care, Alice answered flatly. The magician was sick of it, so the whole wave of dissatisfaction was released.

"Damn it! You!..." He screeched. His face was steaming red. Midway, he paused and scanned his eyes over her chest, specifically her emblem. "Even though you are a bloom, why are you siding with them? These weeds…letting them do whatever they want…" Noticing her as a bloom, Morisaki toned down his tirade, but the way he said it didn't sound decent still.

"What he got as a reply was just a sigh. There are someone who are just too thickheaded to change their minds, and this Morisaki might just be one of those irredeemable idiots. Instead of giving him the time of her day, she plainly ignored him and took measured steps toward tatsuya group.

By now, Lunaire had already let go off the girl's wrist and was silently following Alice. With the amount of care given being nil, he didn't even pay any heed to Morisaki anymore.

"Wait! We are not done yet!"

"I beg to differ. We are quite done. Besides, what right do you think you have to be talking with us. If you think practical performance determines everything, then why are you standing in our way, first and second rankers? Practical score wise, if I recall correctly, were higher than yours doubled." Cocky grin adorned his face as Lunaire gloat.

Finally having enough of humiliation and being tongue tied with his own logic, he stomped off with the mob like a child. Few blooms behind them were giving Lunaire funny looks. Although not hostile per say, their glances were somewhat…fearful. By all right, comparing to the first ranker, they all felt inferior to different extents, but Lunaire wasn't in the position to care.

Seeing that the last of them left, he turned to the group and radiantly smiled.

"Sorry to show you such an ugly side. They just got on my nerve too much to ignore." Lunaire smiled wryly.

"You…can be vicious sometimes. I mean…wow, I am shocked. Your acting was good. It is as if you are looking down on the whole world." Erica vibrantly laughed.

"No wonder they just left." Leo joined in heartily.

"It's nothing much. Sorry, but the schedule today is a bit tight, so I will have to excuse myself. Maybe we can catch up latter." Alice nodded in agreement to Lunaire cordial remark.

"Oh is that so? Then good luck!" Leo took it in stride. He and the rest did not seem to mind too much about Lunaire's arrogant acting earlier. Good thing, because neither Alice nor Lunaire wanted to burn the bridge with them just yet.

At this point, to everyone's surprise, Marisa perked up and joined the leaving duo. Still, since it wasn't their business, they didn't intend to pry.

* * *

As the three began their way to the gate, their way were blocked by two blooms. At first they suspected that the Course 1 didn't have enough, but after Alice pointed out that they were their classmates, the trio relaxed.

"I am sorry for your…" The girl, whom Alice recalled as Mitsui Honoka, started.

"Don't worry about it. If you will excuse us." His reply froze her in her track. Her mind tried hard to catch up. The only thing she could d was to bow to their retreating backs for helping her out of trouble. It was after all, his help that cleared her from the charge of trying to use magic.

The three, from that point, just continued on their way home undisturbed.

00000

So that wraps up the confrontation. I wonder what image Alice and Lunaire will be tagged with in first high now after he dropped such a condescending remark. Since they had the ground that their score surpassed the overall first ranker, Miyuki, I wonder how other Course 1 will react to this.

Since I featured a lot on the group that is attending First High, I will now be featuring what is going on in the background. I can't be neglecting them when I have such illustrious characters back at SDM.

If any of you have any suggesting, a review would be highly appreciated. Also, if you want to know more about some character that did not attend First High, leave it in the review and I will see what I can do about it.


	25. Chapter 25: First Order

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Now, we are going to be looking at what the other characters are up to. Since they are an organization, we can't have them lollygagging around now, can we?

 _ **I have no plan. If any of you have any suggestion on how the story could play out, please leave it in the review. It will hasten my update if I have some more ideas to work with.**_

00000

Fantasy Sage Council

Executive Order

April 4th, 2094

By the authority of The Sage Patchouli Knowledge and The Sage Lunaire Vivian Meister, the member of Research and Development Department, Kirika Kirin, is hereby ordered as follows:

With the different materials provided along with this order, experiment on its usage in Casting Assistant Device (CAD). There are total of 11 items enclosed.

The procedure and aspect researched will be left to the discretion of the experimenter. Every detail is expected to be recorded and submitted as periodic reports to the council. The submission can be done through the magic return envelope. The report is expected every 10 days

END

Sage Lunaire Vivian Meister

Sage Patchouli Knowledge

* * *

April 4th, 2094

Dear Kirika Kirin

I hope you enjoyed your down time. The council decided that you might like some time to readjust psychologically after joining our organization. I pray that the lack of communication and this sudden notice do not cause any undue stress on your part.

Still, even if we still want to give you some more time, alas it had come to an end. I think you have seen the executive order from the council. I will not go into detail as you can read the order yourself, but I need to fill you in about the organization.

First thing first, congratulation, you are now section head, assigned to the Research and Development Department. In term of rank in the department, you answer only to the department head. As for your responsibility, you are in charge of the CAD research section. Currently though, you do not have any subordinate. That might change in the future.

The Research and Development Department in one of many that answer to the council. The official name is Fantasy Sage Council. Even if it sounded strange, it was decided so and such will it be. In this council, there are currently seven sages and they stand at the pinnacle of the organization. Everything major in the organization goes through the council, but day to day operation is mostly handled in department.

Therefore, each sage holds considerable power in the organization. Each of us has their specialties that we are most compatible with. I believe that you have already met three of us. Correct, Alice, Marisa and I am one of the sages. If you ask why I am trusting you with our identities, it is because Geass will take care of it. I hope you can meet with the rest of us when you are cleared for library access. I am sure you will like our collection.

As a little help with you first task, although I did say I will not help, you might want some help with the materials we sent you. I will provide you with description for identification and some pointers about their property. Good luck.

Sincerely,

Lunaire Vivian Meister

P.S. If you want to send me a letter, put the letter in an envelope with my name on it and place it in along with the report in the return envelope. To send out the package, just put it in a drawer somewhere and it will disappear, then you are all set.

* * *

Special Note: These materials have their own unique names. However, due to special circumstance, we cannot tell you the real names of these materials, yet. After you report is filled in, we will release their details for you.

The list starts from the upper row of the material box, going across, and then you move down a row and continue.

Type I: Metallic material, non-reactive, corrosive resistant, light and strong, silvery color, good mana conduction, average magic resistance, medium price

Type II: Metallic material, non-reactive, moderately corrosive resistant, strong but slightly dense, copper like color, poor mana conduction, high magic resistance, low-medium price

Type III: Metallic material, non-reactive, moderately corrosive resistant, very strong and dense, blackish color with sheen, average mana conduction, high magic resistance, high price

Type IV: Metallic material, non-reactive, corrosive resistant, light and malleable, glowing silvery blue color, high mana conduction, average magic resistance, high-medium price

Type V: Metallic material, non-reactive, corrosive resistant, light and malleable, glowing red and white in color, very high mana conduction, high magic resistance, priceless

Type VI: Crystalline, light blue color, not glowing, irregular shape, cheap

Type VII: Crystalline, orange color, glowing, prism shaped, priceless.

Type VIII: Crystalline, red color, glowing, prism shaped, priceless.

Type IX: Crystalline, blue color, glowing, prism shaped, priceless.

Type X: Crystalline, green color, glowing, prism shaped, priceless.

Type XI: Crystalline, yellow color, glowing, prism shaped, priceless.

I know it has very little amount of details, but this is also a test of your ingenuity. I am sure you won't disappoint. Ah, everything can be requested if it became lacking, except for type IV and VI onward. Use them wisely.

Now with the entire thing settled, in the envelope are two checks. The smaller one is the payment for your service. Although I said small, it is still very substantial. The larger one is your research fund, which you can use to help purchasing equipment and materials. It should be enough.

* * *

Nothing came, but when it did come, it was like a crashing wave. If she was completely honest, she felt quite unnerved when the organization didn't contact her after her initial run-in with them. After shocking meeting, Lunaire didn't tell her any further detail. All that was left for her was their mirthful smiles. Essentially, she was in complete darkness.

The out of blue, the letter came. Typically, she would expect her mail in her mailbox and not directly on her desk. With its large size envelope, there was no way she could mistake it for her other documents. Beside, her usual document envelope is brown, not pure white with strange emblem. Unmistakably, it was address to her with her name beautifully written on the envelope.

In the envelope, the content proved to be much more surprising. Not only she had learned more of the organization and her first assignment, she almost fainted from the checks within. Even the pay for her service was enough to account for a year of her profit. Let's not mention the larger check. That amount of pay hammered the significance of this project into her mind.

Although she didn't know what to say about being promoted to somewhat high rank position, she was at least willing to play ball with them. At least the sages she had met didn't appear to be up to no good. She admitted though that the material descriptions were rather…fishy to say the least. Kirin wondered whether their so call library would be as fishy, but she shelved the thought away for later.

Since the report was expected every 10 days, it would be best if she partitioned some of the time for the experiment. Perhaps the timing was impeccable as the order arrived when she had nothing to do.

With such little information, she could only rely on herself to find out what they put in the box for her. Still, her resolution did not prepare her for the content of the box. Its interior was like a fantasy world.

Her expectation was completely wrong. When she was informed they were metals and crystals, she only thought it was some special alloys and new variants of induction stones. At this point, she didn't expect much. In term of CAD, only the power of microprocessor and the quality of induction stone matter. Even if they provided her with special alloys, they could not possibly expect her to modify the microprocessors. It was not as if altering fixtures would improve the power of CAD.

For induction stone, there was even less hope. Current induction stones were made from artificial cloned human neurons to be ethical and used to translate electrical signal into psion wave. Since its first standardized production, no one was capable on improving its quality. Current advance in CAD was only due to improvement in computing power, while the stone remained virtually identical across every country. She wondered what kind of organization she was working with to dare tackle problem that many dumped trillion of dollars in vain.

But that was blown completely out of the water. If she could put into word, the only fitting was mythical. It might be because of color, glow or other characteristic combined, the samples weren't ordinary at all. That may be what it takes to reignite her passion as a researcher.

"What are these crystals?!" Not long after she started, her scream echoes throughout her lab. It was a good call that she decided to start after she closed her shop for the day, or else her employee would be spooked out. There would also be no customer for her to tend to.

Kirin decided to start with something she had the most idea about. Since the most obvious use for crystals were as replacements for induction stone, she started by disassembling one of her test CAD. From the selection, she picked the one she liked the most. Not the most scientific way, it would do for the moment. The crystal she picked was Type IX. Based on her gut feeling, she felt she liked its deep blue glow best.

After the CAD was reassembled, it looked identical to other of its model, but the performance was world apart. For the same magic, the special Type IX crystal performed around 150 milliseconds faster with large improvement across other parameters. Simply put, the crystal more than tripled the performance of CAD. Although the psion waveform was difficult to manipulate, when it did calibrate properly, the CAD was terrifyingly natural to use.

They did it, she thought. The researcher at the organization did what the world could not, creating the next generation of induction stone. Just how much fund…no…how brilliant their personnel needed to be to achieve such result? She couldn't begin to fathom the extent of this organization. Kirin was sure that if other nation knew about this, they almost would be willing to wage war just for this alone.

With such groundbreaking revelation, her research continued with fervor. While she could not publish the result, the feeling of being at the forefront pushing the advance of CAD development was electrifying.

* * *

"Did you send out the order, Koakuma?"

"Yes, I did, along with the letter from Lunaire-san." The girl in black dress replied to her master who still sat unmoving on her reading spot.

"Good work and thank you, Koakuma. You can leave now. I will read for a bit more before retreating for the day."

"Understood, Patchouli-sama, good night." Koakuma bowed and turned around toward the maze-like library. But before she could go any further, her master stopped her curtly.

"Wait."

"Yes? Do you have something you require?" He dull red eyes calmly trained on to her master.

"…" Some voice tried to leave Patchouli's lips, but it didn't sound coherent. He mouth opened and closed repeatedly. While she still faced down at the book, Koakuma could see that Patchouli was troubled. The little devil sported a cute frown.

"Is something the matter? Patchouli-sama?"

"…Can we talk?"

"Eh?" Koakuma looked just like gold fish as she leaked out a stupid cry.

"I said can we talk. The thing has been quite dull lately." Uncharacteristically, Patchouli spoke more than a few words.

"I see. Without Lunaire here, you have no one to debate with." Koakuma took the effort to interpret her request.

"…" Blush crept up Patchouli's face. Since Lunaire joined the Scarlet Devil Mansion, everyone was talking a little more than they used to. Before anyone knew it, even the taciturn Sakuya began opening up to interaction. Patchouli wasn't an exception as she, more than she would like to admit, quite enjoyed discussion on the topic of magic. It went on to the point that some interaction became a staple in her life, which is quite unimaginable considering her personality.

"Alright, even if I am nothing in term of magical knowledge, I can be your conversational partner."

"Thank you. Have a seat." Patchouli lightly gestured to the chair beside her table.

"So? What is on your mind?"

"Nothing much, but recently we decided to put our new…member to research. What do you think about that?"

"You meant the person you asked me to write up that executive order to, right?"

"That one. I have never met her and I am quite reluctant to provide those materials to her. She is just a human from this side. I wonder what she could do on her own." Patchouli mused, while still partly immersed in her book. It was a breach of manner, but Koakuma didn't really mind.

"We will just have to wait and see. Human can turn out quite interesting you know, Patchouli-sama? Look at Mizuki-chan now. She is quite something. Still she had some good teachers."

"Are you trying to flatter me now, Koakuma? Since when did you become that cheeky?" Patchouli quipped. Koakuma could only chuckle.

"Well, it is all about wait and sees. Besides, we can actually make all these materials here, so it shouldn't cost us that much to lose them." Koakuma smiled thinly.

"My, did you catch Lunaire's sense of value? In the world of magic, only few like him would regard my philosopher stones as cheap, you know?"

"Well, that applies to you as well. All of us have some of his habit rubbed off on us to some extent after all. Right, Patchouli-sama?" At that remark, Patchouli couldn't help but smiled. Koakuma was right.

Their conversation continued long into the night. Although it wasn't as scholarly as Patchouli would have liked, having some lighter topic to talk about might not be bad for her once in a while. They retired to bed quite late, but it wasn't as if sleep was too crucial for both of them anyway, so there was no problem. Still, the next day, Patchouli had the supervision of human world side Hakurei Shrine on her schedule, so any rest was welcomed.

00000

 _ **I have no plan. If any of you have any suggestion on how the story could play out, please leave it in the review. It will hasten my update if I have some more ideas to work with.**_

I am sorry, but I will be taking a break for a little bit. I might not update for around 2 weeks because of tests and paper due, also I am at the critical point of the story. I like what I have written so far, but for me to continue any further than this, I need a very solid and extensive plan. Not only I have to have modified plotline for the Mahouka side, the other casts need their own plotline to play with. I will need to invest into thinking of a way to simply break the status quo.

Right now, I think that I stuck along with the plotline for two long. It is time I put the tension culminating from their appearance in Okinawa before First High to action. After three years, I think that it would be unrealistic for the people to not be turning up rocks to find them. Since none of the Touhou casts had any experience with true covert operation, they can't evade completely any longer. The problem I have with is that I have no idea how it will play out from now. No storyboard just yet.


	26. Chapter 26: The New Day Breaks

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Long time no see guys. College was crushing me. Good news is that now I have some down time to write something to entertain you guys.

Some of you guys might start to question if this story will simply docilely follow the original story. The answer is no and this chapter will shed light to where this fiction will be heading toward. It is an irony and you will know why soon enough :P

00000

 _ **The Next Day**_

Tatsuya group reconvened quite readily the next morning at First High station. Alice and Lunaire were getting acquainted with Leo. Everything went by like a normal dull morning, until the disaster in the name of Mayumi struck.

At first, it seemed as if she came to invite the Shiba siblings to lunch in student council room. If that was her only objective though, Lunaire would be much more pleased with the arrangement.

"What about Lunaire-kun? Are you coming?" Even someone rather insensitive like Erika and Leo could tell that Mayumi's expression was positively impish.

"…" Lunaire was silently glancing at Alice.

"Come on, shouldn't we have some time to catch up after all these years? I also have some matter of the student council to discuss with you. Please?" Everyone gasped slightly at how childishly the current president was.

"Very well. Alice, I am sorry, but our arrangement earlier must be cancelled. Kaichou seems to have something of great importance that requires my presence." Lunaire said to Alice, but the content seemed to be aiming at Mayumi.

"Don't worry. I will be fine on my own. Although it is quite disappointing, I am sure that the matter is quite pressing for you to be called out like this. I don't mind." Stoically, Alice said.

Although on the surface, it seemed like a conversation when a girlfriend pouting from not being given enough time. However, the whole set up was orchestrated the moment Lunaire glanced at Alice. In subtle way, Lunaire was trying to act like Mayumi was intruding on his time he had reserved for something else, so she should make every second counted. Alice was quite quick to play along with Lunaire's plan to protect himself. While it didn't save him from the invite, it made Mayumi felt guilty and less likely to uselessly pester him.

From their observation, their skit achieved just that. Mayumi, who managed to rope Lunaire in with matter of student council and should be happy, was hanging her head down with guilt from disrupting his appointment. It was not as if she could postpone it either as she already played her card.

"Is that so? Thank you for your time. Also Alice-san, I am sorry." Mayumi bowed.

"Please do not be too concerned. It is important after all." Alice replied stoically to Mayumi's solemn statement. Her rather distanced answer almost made Mayumi to simply excuse Lunaire from his invite, but a president couldn't change her stance too easily. Mayumi could only turn away with gloomy guilt hanging around her vestige.

The people remained could only look and feel slightly sorry for the president. However, they also spared a side glance for Alice and Lunaire too. Even if they didn't explicitly state their relationship, there must be something deeply for such conversation to pop up. The only person who didn't get that impression was Tatsuya, who suspected it was only an act.

* * *

When lunch time started, the stage for the battle was set. Without delay, he long with Miyuki went to student council office. After a round of greeting, their meal began.

Lunaire didn't want to blame formality, but the conversation was going nowhere. With minimal research, he already knew all the basics about the groups in the school. Paying only little attention, he was twiddling his thumbs. Earlier he declined a mean, because he preferred Honami's bento, but he wouldn't tactlessly start before everyone.

When the food arrived and everyone started to dig in, another round of pleasantries started. The end result was everyone, other than for Lunaire, was flustered by his rather extreme sis-con comment.

"Let's get to the point. Kaichou, for what reasons are we called here?" Normally, Lunaire's impatient remark would earn him a teasing from Mayumi, but after she heard the circumstance in the morning, she was pacified.

"Alright. As you know, our school adopted a very centralizing policy with student council holding all the power. They can appoint anyone to any position other than the chairmen of Public Moral Committee and Club Management Group. However, since we have our term limit, there is an annual tradition to invite 1st year representative to the student council with the intent to train them as successor. Therefore Miyuki, I hope you can enter the student council." Mayumi tried her best to make the matter succinct.

Miyuki lowered her head before raising it back up. However, he eyes now was lit with determination. Miyuki took deeper breath than was necessary for a yes or no question.

"Kaichou, are you aware of Onii-sama's entrance examination scores?"

"Hm, I know of it. Truly incredible…to the point that I even lost my confidence."

"…If the student council accepts students with high test scores and outstanding abilities, I believe Onii-sama fits the criteria as well.

"Wait, Mi-" Tatsuya tried to stop her, but she bulled right through him.

"In term of desk work, I believe that has nothing to do with practical skills and grades. In other words, knowledge and judgment are more important."

At this point, Lunaire almost retorted out loud and chastised the foolish girl. Opposite of what she intended, Tatsuya's evaluation in others' eyes would drop. What would happen if he was viewed as a brother wanting to ride his sister achievement to fame? Different from his first impression, she might not be as wise as he thought.

"I am honored to receive an invitation to the student council. I would be more than happy to accept even the lowest position, but is there any way for Onii-sama to join?"

"Shiba-san, I thought I should stay silent. But you not only made everyone uncomfortable, even your brother will be shamed from that." Lunaire couldn't help himself.

"Ashamed?" Her face appeared to be laced with surprise, which was rapidly replaced with unaltered fury.

"You just made your brother seem like a shameless man who would ask his sister to get him a promotion. I am sure many if not all here understand that it wasn't the case, regardless, you shouldn't show such blatant nepotism. It wouldn't look good for both you and your brother." Lunaire was quite merciless in his criticism. Although he was quite lax, he would still react to something uncomfortable. Combining with his experience as infrequent teacher at human village, Keine's habit to chastise people rubbed off on him.

Miyuki hastily apologized to everyone, but mostly her brother. Other could only smile wryly. However, at this point, the people who had already know Lunaire was seeing him in new light.

"Ahem, even the point has been brought up, it isn't possible. It is a written rule that student council may only be selected from first course students only. To overturn that, it would be impossible." The girl introduced as Ichihara Suzune answered and successfully brought the conversation back on track.

"I apologize. I said it without knowing anything." Miyuki solemnly apologized.

"It was quite alright. So you will join us as a secretary. Is that acceptable?"

"Of course, please take care of me."

With the little time left, they hammered out the details. It was decided that Miyuki would come back after school. After they were done with Miyuki, attention shifted to Lunaire.

"As for you Lunaire, I am sorry that most of our time here was about Miyuki. Here is your part. Ahem…the student council nominates Lunaire V. Meister as Public Moral Committee." While trying to appear professional, Mayumi was positively bright with glee. It was too obvious.

"I hereby refuse." Not losing to her intensity, Lunaire sent her a beaming smile and a firm denial. There was no room for negotiation, as tactless as it was.

"Eh?" Mayumi felt crack on her mask.

"I suggest you take Tatsuya. From his posture, he should be very skilled with Taijutsu. I am sure he will suit the line of work." Lunaire followed through.

"Wait, Lunaire, you!" Tatsuya was panicking at such rapid turn of event.

"Instead of coercing the unwilling like me, why not asking him? I am sure he wouldn't mind. Although considering only his Taijutsu, he might not have combat ability to my extent, but he had a lot more utilities." Lunaire was filled with mirth and snickering inside.

"What are you trying?" Tatsuya tried to stop Lunaire before the situation could no longer be salvaged.

"I am listening." Mari, unlike others, tuned in at Lunaire's words. They only need adequate fighting power, because they had more than enough fighters. If she could get someone useful for another things, then she was all for it.

"He claimed he could read activation sequence. I shouldn't have to tell you how useful that that ability is for the committee."

"That's true." Mari nodded with thoughtful expression.

"Furthermore, he is a Course 2 student. Wouldn't it serve as a good model for other Course 2? To be completely honest, I was sick of this school. First course students are too full of themselves and have chronic superiority complex. On the other hand, the second course students are like sheep with inferiority complex. Having Tatsuya in the Public Moral Committee might wake them up." Like a machinegun, Lunaire ranted.

"Although the way you put it is rather extreme, I can't help but see you point. Yosh, since he is declining it anyway, let's take up his idea." Mari turned to present the proposal to Mayumi, who was unresponsive till now.

"Eh? Ah?" Mayumi stammered as she tried to find her bearing.

"Now then, I shall excuse myself." Lunaire rapidly made his way to the door.

"Wait!" Mayumi screeched.

"When you use shock tactics, you don't stick around." Opening the door, Lunaire chuckled heartily and left. The chain of giggled erupted from everyone except for Tatsuya and Mayumi.

* * *

"Ahahaha" When the whole ordeal in the student council was explained, Marisa laughter enveloped everyone.

"That is a little bit mean, isn't it?" Mizuki seemed to be unsure whether she should feel pity for Tatsuya. While he didn't talk much, Mizuki had no reason to dislike him.

"Maybe that will do him some good. That ice cube has to lighten it up a little." Lunaire chuckled humorously. His eyes twinkled with mischief.

"You just don't want to take the job." The reprimand came from Alice

"Well, I won't deny that. But, isn't that fine? We will have a bit of connection and I can move around freely. It's like hitting two birds with a stone."

"Of course…"

"You never change, Lunaire. Still, thank you for looking after Tatsuya-kun for me, even if he is like that." Honami who followed them closely joined their conversation.

Mizuki thought they were in the middle of a forest from the dense greenery and tranquility. No one would think that a place this peaceful could be so close to the city. She could clearly see the city from where they were.

A tram ride from Tokyo and a long trek took her here. According to her knowledge, this city was one of the closer cities to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. There should however, be no place of particular interest out here. Mizuki and Honami could only wonder for what purpose did Lunaire take them out here, but they refrained themselves from asking.

Their little trek up the relatively intact forest finally ended at a rundown shrine. The Torii red characteristic color faded away to dusty orange. Various wooden frames were dilapidated and gave an impression that it would only take just a gust to topple the whole thing down. Contrasting to that image, a part of the shrine seemed to be torn down by an effort of people not the elements.

In front of the shrine was Patchouli, cladded in her usual purple dress. Her fluttering dress and gathering lights made Patchouli appeared much larger and intimidating. Spread out around her feet was an intricate diagram of convoluted shapes, sigils and letters. With her feet still Patchouli's posture never waver as she resolutely continue her spell.

The effect was rather apparent as it was impossible to miss wooden planks flying around. The older materials in the shrine were slowly stripped away and replaced by the planks and tiles, pilling on the clearing.

A simple, yet extremely difficult to use, Creative Architect is a spell tailored toward construction. Fitting for tis name, it offered great freedom at the cost of concentration to operate. With all the fancy name, it is just an amalgamation of simple telekinesis and gravity control, but the amounts of processes at any given moment were extremely large.

Normally, construction required foundation and support, so the whole structure would not come crashing down. It was even tougher to renovate an existing supports served the purpose of restriction. At current dilapidated state, it was better to just demolish and rebuild the whole shrine. Creative Architect defied logic and allowed the caster to hold the entire structures, while pulling out and modify anything as she please. Every pillar could be ripped out and the structures would remain upright for now supports to be inserted. It was somewhat like playing with building blocks.

"A shrine? And what is Patchouli doing with it?" Her amber eyes watched Patchouli in daze. Mizuki always enjoy watching the magicians casted her magic. The harmonious light was entertaining to both her normal and special eyesight.

"Hakurei Shrine, quite an important place to us to be honest with you." Alice soft voice rang. The place was a bit rundown, but the resemblance could still be seen. She could not help but felt nostalgic about time she spent here. While red and white shrine maiden always sigh at the gathering of Youkai near her shrine, everyone would still loiter about anyway.

"Hakurei Shrine? I have never heard of that name before. It is pretty old and no one seems to be here anymore. What is this place to you?"

"Maybe you will know that someday." The little devil was the one who answered as most fell into somber mood.

Honami looked at Koakuma who dropped her work to "welcome and answer her question. From what she could see, Koakuma was relaxed, but like everyone at the moment, her eyes bore trace of longing. Honami could tell that whatever this place may be, they held it quite dearly. She wondered when she would completely unravel their eixstences.

Both Mizuki and Honami knew that everyone apart from Marisa in the mansion weren't human. They could not question it after meeting the fairies. They even received quite an in-depth detail into their nature. Yet, they refused to talk about their origins. Apart from the ages, they refuse to tell their past with the same phrase, "one day." Still, Honami didn't mind all that much. Life was enjoyable and that was all that mattered after she was liberated from Yotsuba.

"Please don't mention about this shrine to anyone. We had been waiting for years to secure ways to procure material in secret after all. It would be a shame to have it down the drain." Koakuma added.

"Alright. This is quite a nice place. I wouldn't mind a picnic here if it was tidied up a little." After Honami confirmed, she tried to bring up conversation to pass the time. A quick glance would show that Koakuma was quite amused with the comment.

"Of course it is, otherwise we would not become regulars to this place after all." Koakuma answered as a matter of fact.

"Is that so? This place feels rick with mana, so it is not strange for you all to frequent this place. It is a lot lower than in the mansion, but higher than any place outside." Mizuki finally found her opportunity to join the conversation.

"Aha, you talked like a magician. I have taught you well." Lunaire was finally out of his reverie.

"Why are you so proud of that? We all taught her something right?" Alice quipped.

"Well, let's hope she didn't learn explosion 101 from Marisa then."

"Hey! My stuff didn't explode as much. Don't talk like I am explosion on the walk." Marisa twirled her broom, sounding offended. Her loud voice served well to snap everyone out of their memory.

"Marisa, do you remember a hole in the wall between our labs?" Lunaire's voice was sickeningly sweet.

"Ah well…I" Suddenly, Marisa lost her momentum.

"Oh right, there isn't any wall, not any more. You blew it up to the point that it would be less of a hassle to demolish what is left of the wall than to fix it, geez."

"That was an accident!" The culprit face was red from embarrassment. Marisa could only try to cover it with her large hat.

"Hai hai, give her a break, will you."

"Alright, Alice, I almost forgot our objective. I am sure you are quite curious why we brought you here. I am sorry that I made you walk all the way out here."

"It is quite alright, Lunaire-san. So what is it?" Mizuki blinked owlishly.

"Well, after this place is restored, it will be your new practical training ground. Although the mansion sufficed, it might be better if you know how to work you spell in normal conditions."

"I can see the point in that. I have cast a few spells and it felt more draining and harder to control." Honami agreed.

"That is not the only reason you are here though. As a sign of trust we are showing you the corner stone of our plan."

"The one to raise the ambient mana?"

"That's right, Mizuki. This shrine will be the first of many around Japan that will serve as fixture and well spring of magic power to enrich this land once again. Through these power spots, perhaps some of the dormant gods and other mystical creatures will be awake from their slumber once again." Lunaire's prismatic eyes stared deep into her amber eyes. Mizuki could almost see the fire inside his twin orbs. She almost couldn't speak under the pressure.

"But is this a good idea? If mana is high we might be able to do something more. That's true but form what I have read, gods and mystical creatures don't necessary mean good things." The opinion came from Honami, who sounded cautious.

"I see where you are coming from, Honami-san. But this has to happen. The world is killing s off. A few have the power to retain their power. Many are not that fortunate, rotting away into oblivion. Humans are right that you truly die when you are forgotten. I can't allow one side of the world to disappear." Now that Honami got a good look at Lunaire, she could felt how serious he was if his voice was not an enough of an indication.

"I won't say that there won't be consequences. But all of us agreed that it must be done to save whatever is left of the forgotten side of the world." Alice uttered solemnly.

"We can't let them die, all of it, knowledge, gods, monster, creatures, everything. They were once living and breathing amongst us. I am not letting those like us disappearing." It wasn't common to see Marisa so serious, judging by her eyes that were eerily focused.

"It is time for humanity to reconcile with its counterpart. From human's fear of darkness, the very first of Youkai and magic were born. We were born from them and now we are dying because of them. Don't you think that it is irresponsible? I have seen the gods or what's left. They were created and worshiped from the circumstance outside their control from Humanity and you tell me that they should just die off when people are done with them? They had their stories to tell. They lived and deserve to stay living. Mizuki, Honami-san, it is time for humanity to open the other eye it has closed for so long."

As Lunaire delivered his long speech, there were many reactions. Alice and Marisa were quite neutral about it. They knew of possible consequences, but with the same problem, Gensokyo still lives on. To them, such consequences were natural way of life.

For Aya and Remilia who overheard the speech, they made a pained smile. Aya and Remilia who predated Gensokyo knew exactly what Lunaire's was talking about. They witness firsthand what the increasingly scientific world id to their weaker brethren, how their power weakens and their number dwindling.

Unknown to anyone present, Remilia was thinking of one moment that she remembered clearly. At that time, lowered magic was nothing but inconvenience for a pure blooded vampire like her. It wasn't until one of her servant gave birth to a peculiar child. The parents were vampire, weaker ones, but vampires nonetheless. Their child however, was nothing but simply human. Physically, he was a bit stronger than typical humans and his eyes were good. But that was it. He died from old age, not hitting even a century. It was when she laid eyes to his shriveled corpse that reality dawn on her. Mana depletion was terrifying.

On Mizuki and Honami side, they weren't so thrilled. They heard about Youkai and knew well that some could be malevolent or simply eat human. Raising mana and waking them up might cause unimaginable damage to the world that wasn't prepared to accept them. On the other hand, humanity was responsible for them and they couldn't possibly forsake myriads of beings for the benefit of just humans.

"The benefit from higher mana will be good for normal people too. Mana is related to life force, so people might become more healthy and stronger. With access to mana, there is possibility to unlock benefits through magic." Alice tried to salvage the situation by giving them something to convince them. Though she knew it wasn't going to fly. It was up to them to decide.

"I am going to say that we will try to minimize the effect. So? This is the end of the line, the last test. Are you with us?"

00000

There you go; the longest chapter up to date.

Do you like the irony? The tile said Second Coming of the Supernatural and the goal is basically to reintroduce the long lost world of true supernatural to the scientific world that excluded them out in the first place.

The story will have some part that follows the Mahouka plot, while some will be following its own part. As you can see, I try to make it as realistic as possible by having many story lines of different Touhou character happening simultaneously.

The tension and suspicion will build up slowly between Touhou and Ten Master Clans. There won't be any Gungho action in the foreseeable future though.

Please leave a review for suggestion. Thanks!


	27. Chapter 27: Incident

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Since this period is a break, I probably will write more.

There is a little action going on and a lot of people will be craving for it by now. Too bad it is not on this chapter, but the next. Anyone who know Mahouka will knows that this deviate a lot from the plotline. I won't spoil for the detail, but wait for the next chapter.

00000

 _ **A Week Later**_

"Are you with us?" Mizuki thought back to the life changing question she answered. Many days had passed until now, but the shock remained. Elevating magic power and waking up the dormant fantastic entities came as a surprise she had never seen coming. Its implication was huge. From that point on, Mizuki crossed the line she could not back out.

The meek girl, unlike how she thought she would reply, said yes. Even though there might be death, even though things might not go as planned, Mizuki could not bring herself to disregard their hidden pain and their justification. It was like Lunaire said; humanity was just looking away, including her. How could she not notice? How could she not notice and not try to answer why only Lunaire's group survived. Even with her eyes, she could barely see anything magical in the world outside the barrier of the mansion.

They were simply strong, stronger than anything she could imagine. Such beings could only exist in fantasy, she thought and it was that very thought that slowly killed them off. And what happen if some weren't strong enough…

She had to do something. History, knowledge and individuals were forgotten and ceased to exist. But if she did, she could potentially hurt someone with youkai that would come with high mana level. Some youkai are even of man-eating type. The girl thought she would tear herself over this decision more than this, yet both she and Honami replied so readily. Yes.

It might have been the bond that they had forged over the years. She could not view herself apart from them. In the argument, she could not view that she stood on different side. It was not her or them. She thought "us."

This made her a little terrified and happy at the same time. Mizuki was acknowledged and part of their group, of their tight-knitted family. They were honest with her and from the point that they had met, they only showed their true selves. They weren't evil. She knew that clearly and that was more than enough.

"Eh?!" Mizuki's body was shaken quite vigorously. Her ember eyes snapped to focus and found that the girl in front of her had her shoulders in her grasp.

"Erika?"

"Thank god. What were you doing, dazing around in classroom like that?"

"I'm sorry, Erika-chan. I just had a lot to think about…"

"Geez, Mizuki, get a grip. But what troubles you so much that you couldn't even hear me yelling at you?"

"It is nothing."

"There is no way that could have been nothing."

"It is nothing important. Besides, I am okay with it."

"Hmm, if Mizuki said so, then I will leave it at that. It's your turn now."

"Okay.

Mizuki blinked and move to the podium. Although it looked like a podium, it was just a shabby CAD used for magic practical training. The goal was to move the plates back and forth as fast as possible. The goal was 1000 milliseconds. Marisa already cleared that goal and Mizuki couldn't see why she couldn't follow her example. It didn't take much. A flash of light and 907 milliseconds, then she was free to go. It was pitiable how little care the school gave to the course two students. Still, it wasn't as if she needed it. If she really needed it, she would search for materials herself. There was no need to spoon feed her.

"Oh my, Mizuki, why were you hiding your skill? You succeeded on your first try!" Erika chimed.

"It's nothing much, Erika-chan. I think you are just not used to the CAD here." Mizuki hesitated.

"Why don't you do it like me? Just place your right hand on your left might do you some good, da ze!" The energetic voice was unmistakably Marisa's.

"Oh right, Erika-chan also uses her magic with her right hand."

"Mizuki, does that have something to do with this?"

"Well Erika, when you do it like that, it felt as if you are doing it with just one hand, right? It is just tricking yourself, but it worked for me." When Marisa explained such, Erika quickly tanked her and made her way to the podium.

"You two know quite a lot. Do you have some tips for me as well?"

"Sure Leo, why don't you try walking down the lane and touch each points you want the object to stop and start. Go to the podium and visualize their positions in relation to you, then start casting. You have problem of not being able to quickly acquire target, da ze! Then why don't you acquire it before hand."

"Oh, thank you, Marisa. I will try it out."

Leo began walking down the lane, much to the chagrin of Erika who occupied the podium.

"It is unexpected. You must be very good to read into their problem." Tatsuya finally pried his heavy lips open.

"Of course, our eyes are just that good." Marisa boasted.

Tatsuya prayed inside that they didn't manage to find out about him. He did try to use the trick on his first run at the podium.

"Didn't you have a trick of your own too? The first time you cast your magic, once you did cancel the magic you built up and immediately projected a new one immediately."

At Marisa's remark, Tatsuya's eyes widen. The two girls in front of her caught a glimpse of his secret. Flash cast was something that must be kept under wrap at all cost. Still, as long as they didn't find it special, he should be fine. His subpar performance would provide a good cover for that as well.

* * *

"Okay, let's start our meeting today. I was notified of some interesting reports from Mizuki. However, it is a pretty major topic, so let's save it for last." Lunaire opened the discussion.

Everyone in a while, the members of their tight-knitted family would father for a meal. Of course, Mizuki and Honami would be present. Although out of duty, Sakuya and Meiling would remain standing beside Remilia.

Without getting into great detail, they would mention anything they thought were of any significance. While the premise was that, it was mostly a get-together. There was none boorish enough to discuss their magical researches on the dining table. Remilia would be too bored before the first sentence was out.

Everyone who went to first high did not have anything, but complaints. The most important report that evening was from Patchouli and Mizuki.

The first report from Kirika Kirin came in and Patchouli was satisfied. The shut-in didn't say it straight, but one could understand that Kirin was a rather useful and resourceful person. Kirin was "usable and so-so" in Patchouli's words.

Report only covered the details from crystalline items. It said that by substituting the induction stone with Patchouli's elemental philosopher stone, the CAD's parameters were improved by leaps and bounds. Kirin found the blue-type to be most effective, but correctly deduced that different individuals may produce different result. To think that she could guess that philosopher stones all belong under the same set, she was sharp. Another she tested was Type VI, Magia crystal. She said that it wasn't useful for CAD as it only produce a jumbled psion signal that cannot be made to be useful in anyway.

Patchouli made a small note to make her once she handed Kirin the permission to visit Voile Library. However, that must be left until after the matter from Mizuki was settled.

* * *

Still seated at the table, Mizuki told of her experience. Apparently, her senpai and a captain of Kendo club, Tsukasa Kinoe kept inviting her to a club for people with over-sensitivity to spirit particle emission. It wasn't only the repetition that was strange. He said his condition immediately improved after he joined, but didn't say how. This could only mean 2 things. One was that he knew about mana magic to improve his control, but from Mizuki's eyes, he didn't know any mana magic.

Another possibility was that he h had something bad planned for Mizuki. He wanted her bad enough to lie to her. At this point, everyone had a menacing smile. Mizuki had been a very nice addition to their group and everyone adored her. Even Sakuya admitted that the girl was diligent and likable in her book.

Everyone other things on the schedule be damned, if they messed with Mizuki, then they would pay dearly. Even the pacifist Reisen agreed.

"So what should we do about this?" Alice broached the topic. While her face appeared calm, she was fuming a little inside as Mizuki was like a little sister to her.

"We should blast them with my Master Spark, da ze!"

"I would agree if it won't take half the school with it."

"Still this something was larger than intent of one person. Since the whole club might be involved, I suggest that we learn more about their scale first." Reisen proposed.

"Indeed, so that we can root them out all in one go." Honami switched back other bodyguard mentality.

"Calm down, everyone, I don't want to…" Mizuki hurryingly tried to stop them, but the conclusion had been reached.

"What are you saying, Mizuki? It is a matter of fact to look after one of us, right?" For some reason, this remark made both Mizuki and Honami warm and fuzzy inside.

* * *

Another peaceful week seemed to pass by, but all the resources were being poured into the investigation. Reisen was tasked with tailing and Aya with providing photographic evidences and support. Lunaire and Alice were tied by their elite status and couldn't do much to ask around, while Marisa was not suited for something as sensitive matter as this.

It did not take much. Tsukasa Kinoe was clueless he was being tailed and led them straight to their hideout. The damn old factory wasn't even hidden. It made everyone wondered if they even considered that they could be discovered, no eavesdropping countermeasures, no nothing. They didn't even notice that Aya was hovering outside the building, listening to their every word. Thanks to the recording device, Lunaire didn't have to bear with her exaggerating the matter with her commentary.

They were just full-blown terrorists and their ideologies were as laughable as their hideout. To eradicate discrimination due to magical ability without denying magic itself, it was so lofty that made everyone want to puke. All they were yapping about was the unfairness of the mean wages between magicians and non-magicians. They ignored the hardship that magicians needed to go thought for their qualification and the limitation they were put under. They were basically military resources and even prohibited from immigrating. They were just fooling themselves and embracing the sweet sounding idea of equality.

What they found shocking was that their subordinate organization, Egalite, contained a lot of Course two students from their school. Tsukasa Kinoe and Mibu Sayaka were among many. It was despicable actually, to think that these terrorists were misleading children into their ranks. They even tried to get their claws on Mizuki as well, unforgivable.

* * *

"This is…"

"Unmistakably…"

"An incident…"

"Fufufu."

It would be a lie if Mizuki wasn't creep out by their expression. When the word incident came up, it was like both their bloodlust and amusement flared up.

How could they not be amused? It was an unspoken fact that life in Gensokyo wouldn't be complete without incidents. Although it wasn't as fantastical and interesting as the ones in Gensokyo, they would take what they could get.

"Yosha, let's get going!" Marisa screamed with glee.

"The night is still young, but won't last forever. Let's get them now!" Remilia chimed in with the hype.

"Wait!" Reisen tried to stop it before the enthusiasm escalated too much.

"We need a plan? No, we don't need any plan. From the report, we can just trample them to the ground." Remilia countered.

"I agree that we can just trample them, but shouldn't wait until the time is ripe." Lunaire grinned evilly.

"Oh, what is your idea?" The vampire perked up when she saw his evil expression. Lunaire's evil expression usually meant a lot of fun in Remilia's book.

"From the recording, it seems that they will cause a scene by having some sort of demonstration at First High that will end with a climax a few days later. On that day, they will launch the attack. The night before that day when they will be preparing, all their members should be present…If you understand what I am getting at." The silver-haired magician continued. The tone sent chills up both Mizuki's and Honami's spine. Honami understood that striking when the enemies are gathered at one place when they had the advantage was the best. Still, the glee that everyone seemed to radiate amply irked her somewhat. It was as if they wanted this to happen.

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Here you go.

The chapter is a little bit shorter this time round. I am quite tired you see.

If there is any suggestion please leave it in the review.

Thank you.


	28. Chapter 28: Blanche Extermination

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

I suck at writing action scene. Still, there is not much action in this scene anyway. I mean, there was no way Blanche can stand in Touhou stampede after all.

This part really deviate a lot from the plotline.

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Everyone waited in bated breath for the first sign to come, except for some. Alice and Marisa became apprehensive after the verdict came out to kill anyone who resisted and execute all their ringleaders.

As ruthless as it was, there was no use leaving terrorists alive, especially their ringleaders responsible for inciting youths down the wrong path. These disgusting animals couldn't do anything, but send others to die for their ideals, while cowering in their dirt hole. Honami could only agree. She had enough contact with enough of darker aspects of the modern world to know that someone just had to die.

Someone naïve like Alice or Marisa or Mizuki would not be able to wrap their heads around that. Perhaps deep down, Alice and Marisa understood, but never really accepted it. They after all had killed out of necessity. Regardless, whether they were ready to or not, the decision wouldn't change. Their only choices were to go or not to go. The attack would commence either way.

They didn't have too long to consider as after a week, the loudspeakers around the school disturbed their monotonous lives.

"We are, the Aspirants Alliance who wishes to abolish the differences within the school." Lunaire snickered when he heard their announcement.

Stealing master keys and barricading themselves in the Public Announcement Room to use loudspeaker were basically criminal activities. But to their credit, they managed to force the student council to open a public forum debate two days later. Mayumi was rather soft in accepting their demand, but that was alright. The more they believed that their plan was succeeding, the more panic they would feel when it came crashing down.

They would attack on the day of the forum, so the best time to strike was the night before when their preparation was complete.

While it was quite tasteless to kill, it was a good time to unwind.

* * *

""It looks like its time. Alice, Marisa, go home. I will go to the meeting point." As soon as they left the gate, Lunaire said so before preparing to take off.

"Wait! We will go with you."

"What did I tell you? If you are not prepared to kill, then…"

"I know, and then don't enter the battle, right? But at least I need to see this through to the very end!" Alice almost screamed in panic. It was good thing that the people were sparse enough not to hear her.

"…"

"There might be more times like this, so I have to get use to…killing. You said we were naïve and don't know how cruel the world outside is, so show us!" Alice had trouble, but she spat the word "killing" out like a bug.

"..Marisa, are you with her on this?"

"As much as I don't want to admit it, we had to learn when we can." Marisa balled her hand into fists and bit down on her lips.

The pair of prismatic eyes that gazed on them softened. It was not as if Lunaire couldn't understand. Since Okinawa, the rest of them had been giving these girls a wide berth to breath. They were the most affected from actually killing people.

"Fine, but are you fine with blood? I'm sure that there will be plenty if you come." At the mention of this, both of their bodies shook.

"W-we are prepared, ze." Marisa glared in defiance even if her quivering words were a clear telling of her fear.

"If you say so, then I will not object. But you are not to fight; you will only be a liability if you fight without meaning to."

"So we only watch?" Marisa asked.

"Do you have problem with that? If you do, don't come."

"Alright, we will only watch."

"That's more like it. Also what are that pathetic faces you guys are making? Steel your expression and don't show weakness! It is not only bad for our own morale; the enemies will also take advantage of the situation if they felt you are weak." Trying to act like a sergeant, his voice hammered down on them.

"Eeek." His voice spooked them good as their faces were now more surprised than terrified.

"Besides, you are wrong about one point. You don't have to get used to killing. No, I would advise you not to get used to it. We all changed somewhat when we first kill. It is nothing to be ashamed about. You just have to keep yourself through that experience. Do not lose sight of your purpose or the cost of your action. Do not deny it. You did it for something."

"…" They both were silent, letting Lunaire continued. His next words however, made them flinched.

"At Okinawa, didn't you save someone as well? You should kill only when necessary. But Alice, Marisa, don't ever deceive yourself with that word called necessity. Don't stretch its meaning too wide to kill anyone at hair trigger nor narrow it down too much that you won't kill even at the cost of leaving the ones you cared to be killed. That's all I can say. Now, let's get to some alley and change into movable outfit." They remained completely silent throughout their trip to Blanche's ugly headquarter.

* * *

"You are a little late." The voice with noticeable haughtiness rang out.

"No, I think you are just awfully too early."

"You might be right. Sakuya had everything prepared. All we have to do is marching in. I'm wondering though, what are those two doing here?" Remilia's crimson eyes trained at the two blond magicians.

"They are here to observe, nothing more nothing less. What about your side? Where is Aya?" It was Lunaire's turn to inquire.

"She said last minute that after knowing of the whole issue, it was so bland that she didn't even feel the worth of writing about it." Sakuya gave a perfect succinct answer.

"That's quite alright. Is everyone ready?" Lunaire turned to the people present. Apart from two, everyone looked at least eager.

"Didn't even have to ask. Meiling and Reisen, take care of anyone trying to exit the back door and move in. The rest of us will waltz right in their front door. I'm sorry to trouble you, Sakuya, but protect these two as we move."

"Understood, Lunaire."

"I understand."

"So the show is finally starting, took you long…"

"Hold your horses. Let them start their meeting first. The bigger the audience the better, right? Let's be patient." Lunaire could only placate the little vampire who really needed some fighting to unwind.

"You just have to rain on my parade." Remilia clicked her tongue.

"That's what I do, Remi."

* * *

The sun had set and the only source of illumination was within the old factory itself. The darkness was abruptly broken by small spots of pale blue light that appeared around the perimeter of the factory. In a heartbeat, a film seemed to rise up from the ground and joined into a dome, sealing the area from outside interaction either from ground or air. No one would leave the area. On the flipside, anyone outside the dome would see a pristine and perfectly normal factory.

To Reisen and Meiling, they viewed it as the signal that they had waited for. Unfortunately, they were ill-prepared for what came next as their vision was seared by the flashes that turned night into day.

A swarm of small balls of light clashed into the building, producing blinding flashes and thundering roars. Curiously, the building was still structurally intact, except for some shaking. When the eyes of the rabbit recovered and saw such, she could only sigh wryly.

"There is a limit how flashy your entrance can be, Lunaire."

Reisen remembered the pesky spell. It was Lunaire's favorite in a spar, especially against her. Sometimes during spars, she almost hated her own sensitive eyes and ears. The spell was named flashbang for its effect, but unlike the typical sun grenade, it could be launched anywhere and en mass. Whenever she let her guard down, one would always be flying her way and harming her precious ears. She almost pitied the fools in the building. On the other hand, it woke Meiling up, so that was a plus.

* * *

"Good! Now let's walk in. Alice, Marisa, back straight!"

"Finally, right about time."

They began walking, calmly, as if the chaos erupting in the building did not concern them. Acting like they owned the place, Lunaire unceremoniously kicked down the rusty front door and waltzed right in. Sadly, there weren't any to receive them in the empty hallways. It didn't matter anyway. Whatever they did, it was nothing, but futile.

After such an entrance, it wasn't strange for their group to face neat lines of men, leveling their firearms at them.

"Who are you?!" A man screamed at them. At first, his lanky figure and panicking face didn't even register on Lunaire's mind. Remilia was in the same mind as he didn't seem to pose a threat in the fight as seen from his cowering body.

"Oh, how nice of you! I mean, we came in at such a sudden notice and you still manage to welcome us."

The men with the assault rifles were confused and wondered if their minds were playing tricks on them. The sweet voice could not belong to any, but the little girl standing beside the enigmatic silver-haired maid. On the second note, the whole group was weird. It was as if they just dropped by from a cosplay party, but there was something in the little girl's voice and eyes that chilled them to their very core.

"You must be commander of Blanche's Japanese branch, Tsukasa Hajime." On a second look at the man, Lunaire remembered his role from one of Aya's video recording. It was the guy who had mouth too wide for his own good.

"Well…forgive my rudeness. Just as you said, I am commander of Blanche's Japanese branch, Tsukasa Hajime. To whom I owe the pleasure to?"

The man answered with no pressure, replaced his scared expression with relaxed one. Underneath his façade, his cockiness started to build back up. His larger than life attitude contrasted with the men holding the futile and the rest cowering at the back of the hall.

It didn't take much to know that they were just in the middle of meeting. Apart from grown men with weapons, there were around 30 at the back of the hall that still could qualify as young adults. Well, their expressions were more similar to cowed children. These must be the Egalite or the youth branch of Blanche.

"Ah you don't have to remember our names. Our acquaintance will after all be…short." Lunaire chuckled ominously at the end.

Other than the foreshadowing remark, Blanche commander's eyes widened at the nonchalant the other party was being. It was like 50 men holding them at gun points didn't matter at all. He didn't have time to think for long as one feminine voice rang across the large room.

"Wait! You! Aren't you Lunaire from Course 1? I know you! There is no way I could forget that face and that hair."

"Lunaire?" Blanche commander seemed to roll the name around to pronounce it.

"Oh, fancy seeing you here, Mibu-senpai. What are you doing out here in the middle of the night? It is not good for a lady to loiter around at this time of the day." While sounding rather casual, his steely eyes weren't joking.

To say that Lunaire was surprise to see Mibu Sayaka here would be a lie. The pictures from Aya clearly showed that she was in the group. However, when they saw with their own eyes, Lunaire and Alice, especially Marisa, was terribly disappointed. The three knew the upper classman during the club recruitment week when she was showcasing some demonstration. Although it wasn't at Youmu's level, they could tell that she had invested her passion into her swords. It was a shame to see her swoop down to joining terrorists like this.

"What about you?! Why are you out here?!" Mibu almost screeched.

"Well, it wasn't anything major we are just…sweeping up the trash." With that sentence, Tsukasa Hajime finally understood fully the intention of these enigmas who waltzed right through their front door after light show that could wake the dead.

"Ha ha ha, saying that, don't you think you are quite outgunned?" At this point, Hajime's bravado was just getting too much.

"Well, you may be right in term of guns. If we are talking firepower though, we have plenty right here…" Lunaire felt the need to entertain this clown for a bit.

"If you think magic is the be all and end all, then you're making a terrible mistake. I will give you a chance of getting out of this alive. Join us, Lunaire-kun and you too young ladies."

"He is talking sense, right, Sakuya?"

"Indeed, my lady.

"Well, just by waltzing in here without care in the world showed me enough that you are just children. Nevertheless, children can be quite stubborn and put up a fight even with no chance of winning, so let's me persuade you…"

"Children?" Hajime didn't know how ironic his statement was.

"Become our comrade!" Hajime threw his pair of fake glasses and stared into Lunaire's eyes. The orbs of Blanche's commander took on a strange glow.

When commander saw that amusement finally left Lunaire's face, he let out a gleeful laugh. He abandoned his pretense, thinking his plan succeeded.

"Ha ha ha ha, now you are one of us!"

"I see. No wonder, someone of your caliber just aren't capable of handling an entire organization and recruiting people. Ha ha ha, don't think I don't see you fiddling with your CAD." Lunaire continued to laugh mirthfully, but his eyes were several times colder.

"What? How?"

"Childish tricks, projecting hypnotizing light from your eyes using magic. As if it would work on us. Remi, that guy and those with guns, they are all yours. I have grown tired of them."

"Finally!" Remilia stepped forward, inciting curious gazes form those present. When she vanished, the gazes turned into horror as scream erupted throughout the room.

It first started when Remilia's claws found her first mark, a torso. It was lethal, but not immediately, so he went down howling with fountain of blood from his body. His comrade did try to target Remilia, but they could never keep their sight on for longer than split second as the vampire would just vanish and another spot would be painted red. It only took a strike to fall. Gutted by her claws, skewered by crimson spears and chains that seemed to appear out of nowhere were among the ways to die in this massacre.

After a few seconds, their number dwindled down to less than half. It might be because of that reason that they started to try and put a shot in Sakuya's body. Ultimately, it was futile as shimmering barrier deflected all the rounds, not yielding even a millimeter.

In the end all that was left were the group at the back and Hajime himself. All who dared to raise their weapons were torn to shred, leaving no respect for their foolish effort.

Seeing fighting as pointless option, Hajime immediately began to run toward the door. The scarlet pair of eyes that watched his unsightly escape betrayed sign of amusement when his body was sent flying by the door he tried to open.

From the air muddled by dust, the figure cladded in green Chinese dress could be seen with her leg raised in a kick.

"Oh, you are early, Meiling."

"We already cleaned up everyone other than this room. You are quite late, so we came to check on you. Is there a problem?"

"No, Reisen, we are doing well. Meiling, can you deal with…this. I am done. They couldn't even make this interesting."

"Very well, my lady." Meiling obeyed and kicked the screaming man. There was no way he could come back from that with his head bent sideways.

"With that taken cared of…"

"Remilia, what about the rest of them?" A question was asked worriedly. Reisen could see easily that the people at the back of the room were young, unlike many she killed on her way here. The rabbit had no quam killing terrorists pointing weapons at her. On the other hand, these were unarmed youth. While in league with the terrorists, she still felt reluctant to simply kill them.

"Hmm, I wonder…"

* * *

On the side of the ones spectating, things did go so hot. Thanks to Lunaire's barrier, the rest didn't see Alice and Marisa doubling over from the carnage. They were afraid of blood and there was blood, lots of it. No wonder they couldn't keep a straight face. Still they held themselves much better than Lunaire initially thought. At least they didn't end up regurgitating their last meal onto the floor.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that they were not in a state to present to other people. Therefore, Lunaire just made it so that the two were still following him, while leaving them to recover on the floor. They needed time, so just leaving them there might be most beneficial. However, the rest of the children here must be managed.

He didn't intend to kill them as they were just misguided children. Some might come voluntarily, but it was also lightly that some were brainwashed with magic. Besides, killing them all would result in unprecedented case of missing people that they could not dream to handle. Unlike adults, cases involving teens were more likely to be taken seriously, not to mention 30 of them on the same day.

But he had plans for them.

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And there you go, the first part of Blanche extermination.

Please leave a review and tell me how you think about this deviation from plotline. If you have any suggestion, please leave it in as well.


	29. Chapter 29: To Tame Useless Children

Hello, ITalkToSky here

Another long chapter

I will be out for two weeks guys, because the terrible evil is upon us. The finals are rolling up and it will hit like a train with no brakes and my body is not ready.

However, I have a special treat for you other than this. Read the author's section at the end to find out.

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 _ **Next day**_

"This whole thing is now a farce. No one is coming, not any more, not after what happened last night. Only the ones exempted from the meeting didn't know anything, for the better or the worst." The girl sighed remorsefully. After all that happened, Mibu Sayaka thought that she needed a shower and a bed. There was no more meaning to this forum that she cared for. Since the very beginning, it was simply a ruse to steal magical researches, so she figured she should just skip. The reason she didn't skip was still sticking out like a sore thumb with their bright colored hairs.

When she first met them, apart from their peculiar appearances, Sayaka thought they were normal. Lunaire and Alice were probably among the limited few Course I in First High that were decent and non-discriminatory. Marisa was energetic and bright child. All of them seemed to validate a different feel somehow, as if they were untouched by any influences, which seemed very enviable to Sayaka. She hoped that she could be as uncaring and free like them. However, they were different last night.

Out of blue, they appeared, just like the flashes and explosions that preceded them. They, along with that monster, strolled in like no one's business. They weren't armed, but their presence radiated confidence and their eyes regarded all of them like bugs, easily snuffed out. They couldn't understand anything. One moment they came in and the next their sarcastic remarks flew. At one moment, the talk just ended and there was redness everywhere. The walls, the ceilings, the bodies, everywhere were stained red as the air was filled with scream.

She stood there, paralyzed. The thought of assisting her comrades wasn't there, just unaltered fear. Even just by thinking back, he body would shiver uncontrollably. It showed her how easily death could claim them. There weren't courage or "for the cause" moments. It was just a slaughter and she thought she too would be six feet under when all was over. Mibu could embrace her lament that she didn't sign up for this and only waited.

But the death that they waited didn't come. Even when the silver-haired teen approached, he didn't do anything, but stared them down in silence.

The silence seemed to last forever, until they heard a snap. As if on cue, a blanket of fog fell and covered their surrounding.

"There we go! I hope this much steam is enough for the censorship!"

Sayaka swore that if she didn't pinch her own wrist, she would not be able to restrain the urge to kick Lunaire in the face and was sure that others wished to do the same. His shit-eating grin didn't help.

"Now then, that didn't end well, did it? You had to be here when we crashed the party. I would let you go, if not for the fact that you have seen our faces."

When Lunaire said so, the Tension earlier came back with full force.

"So, I have a proposal for you."

That proposal that thirty or so of them accepted that day might hanged their lives forever, but for now they got to live another day.

Surprisingly, they were asked to sign these papers called Geass and they would go free until evening of the next day when they had to return. Sayaka wondered how a signed contract would ensure the promise, but she and the rest of them were shown the agony that befell those who broke the Geass. It was late then, so they would continue their discussion after they returned.

The last instruction was to act normal and attend to their original routines to avoid suspicion. That was why Sayaka was at school, sitting in the back as the debate in the forum intensified. The poor girl wasn't even in the proper state of mind to listen and it was over. On her mind, she could only dread for what to come.

* * *

"Look at them being all confused like that. They had no idea." Lunaire remarked after he scanned the hall and saw the students with colored band on their writs being extremely disturbed. After all, the plan was to hit the school during the forum, if not for the fact that most of the organization was summarily executed.

"It wasn't that funny."

"Sorry Marisa, I went a bit too far. Sometimes my sense of humor can be a bit dark." To that, Marisa only nodded and went silent.

The two of them were silent all day, barely touching any food. The taste of reality really got to them. Lunaire hoped earnestly that this would not cause a rift to form between the rests of them. Seeing them like this, he finally realized how much he took their smiles for granted.

For now, there was nothing else that he could have done, so he bid them farewell at the end of the day and left to the same accursed factory

* * *

"So, join up or your memory will be erased."

The room burst into commotion. Who wouldn't be annoyed if the first remark was just that with no explanation whatsoever?

"Okay, okay, settle down. I will explain…" Instead of finishing what he had to say, he snapped his arm outward. A pure white projectile flew forth and burst. Bright light from flashbang seared into their eyes, making the screams even louder.

"Hadn't anyone taught you not to speak while someone is speaking? That's better. I could simply silence you all here, but I am willing to give you all a chance, so listen."

Lunaire had to be a bit heavy-handed in dealing with them. If he needed to gather their respect, this was the fastest, albeit temporary way.

"Before that, is everyone here? Actually never mind, it didn't matter anyway. If you are not here in an hour, then you are not counted. Among the living that is."

He could see it. They were scared, terrified in fact, and somewhat glad that they chose to come. The thought that it was simply a bluff didn't cross their mind as Lunaire said it with overwhelming confidence.

"Now then, you have two choices. You can choose to walk away. If you do, your memory will be erased from the first point you encountered Blanche. I don't care how long it goes back, so it will all be gone and replaced by dummy memory. It is not uncommon for people to fall into panic if there are large missing chunks in their memories, so I will just fill that out with something most youth your age normally experiences. I won't really recommend this choice as you might over time be able to single out fabricated memories and panic, wondering where it came from. It is a guaranteed midlife crisis. However, if you want, then I won't stop you. This choice will remain open even if you hear what I have to say next, so it is not as if I will force you to take my choice."

Lunaire paused to see favorable responses. If they felt that they had the choices, they would be more at ease.

"Or you can join our organization and take another Geass to enforce secrecy, while keeping your memory. I will tell you first that the Geass only enforce secrecy not obedience. As a member, I can force you to do something through order, which you can choose to disobey. Of course, there will be proper punishment that can range from light warning, confinement and death, depending on severity. You can choose to back out, but we will have to erase your memory back to your first contact with Blanche. The effect will be larger the more memory I have to go through, so choose carefully."

The silver-haired magician sighed. He was not too enthusiastic to be doing this. One of his hands reached to his side and appeared to disappear into black mist. Someone noticed it and started to murmur. Lunaire didn't mind them. With a vigorous pull, the black mist enlarged as a simple and stable wooden chair was pulled out. Everyone lost their words as Lunaire just sat down without any bit of care. He might as well, so he pulled out a table and tea set. Everyone remained silent as he prepared his tea. Lunaire unhurriedly continued after he took the first sip.

"You will join us as the lowest member of our Education and Liaison Department after you pass a psychological test. I will say this now. If you fail the test, it will be the same as if you walked away. Specifically, if you still believe in Blanche ideology, then you fail. Also if you believe that if only you have magic, you will be acknowledged, then you are also out. To be completely honest, it made me sick looking at you."

Many winced when they heard this, while some were enraged.

"Don't think I don't know that many of you are just Course II students from first three magic high schools. Let me tell you who you are. You all are just someone who don't want to let go of your magic, but can't tolerate being called second rate. Pathetic, you have nothing to pride yourself on. Even other than magic, do you even have anything to contribute to society? I say none, but by the request of my friend, I am willing to bet on your potential, no matter how small it was. You all…"

"You are wrong!" One girl could not stand it anymore.

"Oh, pray tell?"

"I have my sword. I will not let you insult my sword just because of my poor magic." It wasn't wrong as Mibu Sayaka did earn her place in the national Kendo competition. At this point, there was a glint in Lunaire's eyes.

"Well, then you have your sword."

"You are…what?"

"I mean you have your sword. By doing this and joining terrorist, you are the one insulting and refusing to acknowledge your own sword. Aren't you just self-conscious?"

At such critical remark, Sayaka stopped on her track.

"Your sword was good. There is no need to care about what other say about it. If you take pride in it, then who cares? Still if you ask me, I think your sword is pretty useless. If you are beaten by Kirihara, his sword is more useful that yours."

"What do you know?! You have talent. Do you even know what it is like to be ridiculed because you have no talent in magic and everything else you excel at was completely disregarded?!"

"Ho?"

The temperature seemed to plummet in an instant. Anyone who even looked near Lunaire was unnerved by his expressionless face. His mere presence seemed to suffocate them. They all drew breath when he approached.

"Oh, I don't know. I don't know it personally. Then, what about you?"

"Eh?"

It was like Moses parting the Red Sea as Lunaire walked slowly toward Sayaka. In her confusion and unease, he was right in front of her and stared. It might be his expressionless face, but mostly likely his. She could swear she saw something powerful and primal swirling around in his orbs. It was rage.

"Do you know what it means to be so talented?"

"W-what?"

"So talented that everything about you was completely disregarded. Do you even understand how it felt when your family considers you as nothing other than breeding stock, a tool simply to propagate talents and use for their own benefits? Do you understand the feeling when your father only viewed you as a breeding stud and political tool? Do you? No, you do not."

At the sheer fury, Sayaka knees were shaking. It was commendable that he knees didn't completely give out.

"But you don't care, do you? No one cares. The world is not that kind to listen to your pathetic whines, so I polished my talent, to become something none can hope to match. And now, I am free. I didn't whine and I got things done, so excuse me if I make light of sore losers, because I am the winner."

Lunaire chuckled and moved back to enjoy his tea.

"Damn, my tea got cold."

To be precise, he threw the old batch out the window and brewed a new one.

"So back on the current issue at hand, I decided to try and whip you into shape. That is why I put you in Educational and Liaison Department, because as is, you all could only be fodders in any other department. Perhaps, we might be able to find what you are useful for. Hopefully by the end, we will have more use for you other than fodders. Oh question? Fire away, Tsukasa Kinoe-san. If it is about your family, we will deal with it soon. Your stepfather had been a bad influence. I know you are brainwashed, so do not worry. I will give you a hand in removing fallout from affecting your family by removing him out. If your mother did not have a hand in this, you are in the clear."

"Although I am grateful for your help, that's not the problem. I want to ask about your agenda. We don't quit terrorists to rejoin them again." The teen readjusted his glasses. Unlike his brother, he seemed more like a scholar than a con artist.

"I will give it to you straight. It depends on who you ask, but our objective is clear, the resurrection of the phantasm this world had lost."

"The phantasm?" His brow furrowed at Lunaire choice of word.

"Tsukasa-san, did you feel anything at all when I used magic."

Kinoe's eyes widen. Of course, he couldn't feel anything as psion wasn't even use in the first place.

"No…I didn't feel anything."

"What I just did? You magician should know that it was completely impossible under current magic, right? Pulling objects out of thin air…"

They nodded and their gulp could be heard by the sheer silent enveloping the room.

"It was magic completely different from modern magic or even ancient ones. It was older, much older and undoubtedly the true and original form of magic. As you can see, its capability is unrivaled by what you can do now. We can fly, turn people into frog and teleport."

"What?! If that is true, shouldn't you just publish it? You will revolutionize the world as we know it!"

"Tsukasa-san, didn't you see what modern magic did to World War III" New form of weaponized human and the first magicians being turned into lab animals."

"…I understand, but why did you say you might be a terrorist under certain perspective."

"Old magic is linked to mythology. We intend to revive the old magic in a controllable way and also preserve the existences born from it. You might not be able to see it, but there are existences born from the power of mana in old magic and they are fading away. Not just magic, we want to bring them back too. That is why I said phantasm not magic."

"What sort of existences are we talking about?"

"Youkai." Lunaire grinned.

At that point, the whole room looked at Lunaire as if he had grown another head and limb. But, even if they wore incredulous face, the room remained silent. Lunaire continued regardless.

"Youkai and magic are something that goes together. As mana magic spreads, they will return regardless. I also have incentive to wake them up. The problem is that Youkai can be hazardous to human, tricking and eating them."

"What are you even talking about? Aren't those just folklore tales?"

"In stories, witches fly on broom and now I also fly, sometimes on staff. While I don't use broom, flight magic exists just like in the stories."

"That doesn't prove anything. Magic already exists."

"Fair enough, but their existences are real even if you deny it. You already have met a few already."

"Impossible, where?" Kinoe asked, extremely surprised. It is not strange for someone who disregarded fantasy to be scared at the thought of meeting something they couldn't understand.

"Last night when we busted in, only one is a human."

"…" Kinoe looked at Lunaire with pity as if he was already too far gone.

"The only human was the girl with witch hat. Still, you all probably won't believe as even if I show someone with rabbit ears, you will just think it is just cosplay. Currently, I do not have a believable proof. Still, I want you to always keep in mind that what we do might endanger public safety. We will try to prevent that, but casualties might appear. That is why we need more people like you to help prevent that and go around exterminating threats, if you have the capability to do so."

"So you want us to fight these…youkai?"

"If you can only. If you can't, we have other safer jobs. Don't worry. We won't force you or tell you to fight when you don't know how. That is the whole point of Education, right?"

"Point noted. But wait! Previously, does that mean that you aren't human?"

"Yes, but you will just me a Chuuni. I don't have a proof. If you really want one, wait for around 40 years. I don't age, so after 40 years I will be exactly the same. I am also quite old, but I can't exactly prove it with documents or look now, can I."

"…Very well. I will consider your offer with your warning. Just being curious, but how old are you?"

"I was born in 1980, so around 115 years old." Lunaire announced and smiled plainly.

"Then, what are you?" Kinoe asked apprehensively as his eyes darted around restlessly.

"A True mage. You probably wouldn't understand what it means. Still, don't worry. I don't eat people. Back on topic, now choose. Will you?"

"Even if you say that…"

"I have a question." The same annoying girl in the beginning spoke up.

"What is it, Mibu-san?"

"Who was that little girl in white last night?"

"Good question. Her name is Remilia Scarlet. She, along with I, Lunaire Vivian Meister are part of council overseeing our operations. By the way, she is a 500-year-old vampire."

"A vampire…"

"She is not a danger unless you provoke her. Could we end this now? It is getting late."

The thirty or so teens started to discuss among themselves. The hall that was silent was enveloped by overlapping voices. Some were distressed, while some were excited. The only thing Lunaire knew for certain was that it was going to take the whole night.

00000

And there we go, Gensou no Issan finally has their new recruits. I hope their recruits are not like X-COM's recruits (They suck and they die).

Please leave a review for comments and suggestions.

Now then, as for the special treats, I will release specials chapter. This is not written by me, but by one of the ready that I had a nice very long, but pleasant conversation with. His ideas and mind kind of click and he went through the trouble of writing it and I like it, so I will put it on (by his permission of course). It fits into the storyline, so you all can go ahead and thinks this is a canon to this fiction, so it is not an omake.


	30. Chapter 30: Side Aya's Adventure I

Hello, ITalkToSky here with another special guest, erickkarver.

 _ **Please read this!**_

I am publishing this story with the permission of the original author, erickkarver. He and I have been having a great conversation about many part of the story. At one point, he decided to write a side-story for my story. When I read it, it was great. With his permission, I decided to make this story a canon in my story, meaning that it happened and will affect how my story turns out.

He had been a big help, trading ideas with me. I cannot thank him enough, because he became a crucial part in the growth of my story. I started this because I love Touhou and added in Lunaire as I also like Saegusa Mayumi. However, this idea started to evolve. Somewhere along that line when I discussed my end goal with erickkarver, our ideas went through the roof.

I am an inexperienced writer and he fills in the part of being another pair of eyes. He is not an editor, but he made sure that the ideas I play with are sound. And now he made another contribution to the story for the part I am lacking with, Aya.

I will admit to you as I admit to erickkarver that I don't know how to write Aya very well. She is a very energetic character and I don't dislike that. However, I can admit that I am full of juice like she is, so I cannot wrap my head around her as well as erickkarver does. Therefore, I decided to adopt his part in.

Apart from some minor editing and formatting for uniformity, this is all erickkarver's work, so credit to the author. Give him a round of applause.

There will be more from this author, so do not worry. Now I can't slack off either.

I don't know how to write my appreciation properly, so I will write it down my own way. It is more sincere that way.

Enjoy!

00000

Part 1:

"Haah," Aya sighed as she got off the tram, "that place was a bust too." She took out a map of the area and a pen from her purse then placed an X over one of the marked places then headed for the station exit.

The sun had set long ago and was now near ten-thirty yet the streets of Tokyo remained as bright and full of people as if it was still midday. Aya remembered the awe she felt when she stepped into the metropolis the first time that she was sent to scout soon after they had arrived in the Outside World. She had heard of the progress humanity had achieved since the creation and separation of Gensokyo. There had been a few books or papers that found their way into the Land of Fantasy that depicted the tall skyscrapers or bustling city streets but nothing compares to seeing it with one's own eyes.

She had finished that assignment a while ago but not long after she had covered the entirety of Japan. She was ordered again by Patchouli Knowledge, backed up by the older Scarlet, to once again traverse the whole country looking for concentrations of mana, Ley-lines, Lands of Power, etc. Why they had asked her to do so? It was to find suitable locations to set up those so called "keystones" to begin raising ambient mana levels. As she was not the most learned when it came to magic because she always relied on her innate ability of wind manipulation, it was the most she could do short of defending actual points.

Aya's thoughts were stopped when she bumped into another person, she quickly apologized. Not that the other person seemed to mind as he continued to shuffle off where ever he needed to go as if nothing had happened at all. Seeing no problem she continued on her way.

It's annoying, Aya thought, having to walk and use ground transport. If she could fly she would need less than half the time to finish canvasing the whole of the country. But alas even she knew that it would make headlines if someone caught even a blurry photo or a shaky video of her with her wings all out on display, not that the librarian need to tell her that. In addition the One Week Magician told her not to use her ability or spell cards at all or at the very least not excessively. It was true that using those made them much more tired than usual for some reason. Not that she needed it anyway her innate physical abilities as a Youkai would suffice as long as her opponent was not using magic.

Aya's thoughts shifted to the town she visited. It was a sleepy, quaint town so much so that she needed to take out her map just to remember what the place's name was. Anyway she was following a Ley-line. The place looked promising. It was right on top of the Dragon's Vein, had a history with Youkai and even had a shrine in the area. Unfortunately it seems the last of the area's mana leaked out some time ago. She had been told of the Moon Rabbit's findings of some gods in deep sleep at their shrines, so she always checked shrines if there were any near the area she was looking into. Sometimes she came up lucky and felt the faint divine presence of a sleeping god but this time there was nothing, the god of that shrine had passed.

Aya turned into an empty side street. She found it faster than walking through two more to reach her rented-apartment. This place was devoid of people since the street lamps were placed further apart than normal causing large patches of darkness in a usually well-lit area. It was a bit reassuring for the Tengu. Despite humans "conquering" the night, they still feared the dark, some things never change.

The Tengu reporter took out her trusty notebook and began to scribble down some information she would use in the report she was compiling. Some of which she would place in The Bunbunmaru the first chance she gets.

While she was preoccupied she bumped into another person. It surprised her but she apologized then continued going without her looking up from her writing the whole time. Only when the person deliberately moved to block her way again did she look up to find what she could only describe as a poorly dressed gangster. Soon he was joined by three others who took positions to her left, right and behind her.

"Hey there, what are you doing out here this late?" The one up front, their leader apparently, spoke.

"Just going home, now if you would excuse me I would like not to waste more time here." Aya replied then tried to pass around the guy.

"Hey come on, no need to be like that," the hoodlum said as he blocked her way again, "we're easy to talk to, just give us that purse and we'll let you go unless you want to do anything else?"

"She is pretty cute," one of the goons said. The other two nodded in response.

About a second passed, then the goon to the left suddenly found himself on the ground clutching his stomach. The only indicator of what happened was Aya facing him her fist slightly extended forward. Before the other three could react, another one went down. The last remaining goon pulled out a baseball bat and swung. Aya easily dodged the weapon, compared to knives suddenly appearing out of nowhere or the slashes the half-ghost did this was child's play. No, it was even lower than that. It was like a toddler trying to hit a trained martial artist.

No sooner had the goon swung then, he too was on the ground. The leader seeming to have some sense to him was running. Of course the Tengu caught up to him, she had barely even use any effort to end up in front of the guy and delivered a kick to his mid-section, sending him flying into an alley where his head collided into and dented a trash bin. Aya let out a small huff and fixed a bit of her bangs that fell onto her face.

* * *

At her apartment Aya pulled out the map to begin planning her next investigation. According to her system the next Ley-Line to follow is. "This couldn't be…" she said as she searched the internet for the area she was looking at.

I can't believe it, how did I miss this the first time, she thought. Then again during her first scouting trip she mostly stuck to cities, economic and political centers, or likely places where the so called "Ten Master Clans" might have operated from. It was little wonder she over-looked the possible importance of this place. She quickly booked her ticket for the next morning then went to take a shower.

Ever since those people came to Youkai Mountain, they stirred up quite a number of incidents, whether directly or indirectly. One question not many people had an answer to was the Moriya Shrine's past, and the people who did know kept silent. Now, Aya might finally get some answers at the Suwa Grand Shrine. Tomorrow would be rather interesting, Aya was sure of it.

00000

A lot shorter release, but I will use this to keep you entertained during my absence.


	31. Chapter 31: Side Aya's Adventure II

Hello, ITalkToSky here with another part for the story by erickkarver.

I hope you enjoyed his last chapter and ready for more. I am sorry, but these will have these fill in for my absence over the final exam season.

If you enjoy it, I am sure that erickkarver will be very pleased.

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Part 2:

Early the next morning Aya's attention readily switched between her phone, notebook and map as the scenery rolled by at high speed outside the tram's window. Luckily the tram she boarded was devoid of people so early in the morning but that might change at the next few stations. With that in mind, she took the map and began channeling a small amount of mana into it. Thin glowing lines began to appear on the map, every place she had marked so far never strayed far from the new glowing grid. It was basically an enchanted Ley-line map.

The Librarian had made adjustments to the map Aya had brought back. Apparently while the Youkai Magician could trace a rough outline of the world's Dragon Veins it was subject to error, a combination of the mana network shifting somewhat in response to Humankind's work and the fading mana levels running through the Ley-lines themselves. As well as many lands of power, places where pools of mana accumulated had grown too weak for an accurate remote reading.

So it was basically Aya's job to follow the Ley-lines and find lands of power that had not gone completely dry. Thankfully the map automatically changed to accommodate the errors and highlighted new locations. True enough it was already changing in front of the Tengu's eyes, it even quantified the amount of mana at the location. How the Magician created and accurate measurement of mana, Aya had no clue in the slightest. The only answer the reporter received was, "It's complicated."

But anyway Aya also took this opportunity to gather more information aside form magical readings hence her occasional reports.

The Tengu stopped feeding the paper power as people boarded the tram. She placed it back in her bag and began fiddling with her DSLR camera.

Her old one was fine but when she learned of the price of film in this day and age. Well, let us just say that buying a whole new electronic camera was the cheaper option. If anything she had to commend the humans for their progress in the art of Photography. These new electronic cameras were something else. While you did have to give up the satisfaction of developing your film, an important part of photography to Aya, the initial experience of lining up shots, minding the exposure, hearing the shutter go off, etc. remained the same. On top of having the ability to see how shots turned out immediately, wide angle lenses, super high power zooming, and the other things modern cameras offered, how could she pass up an opportunity like that!

Of course Aya spared no expense to get a top-of-the-line professional camera, along with many of the available accessories. She even had a separate bag solely for her equipment that people sometimes mistook for her main luggage. While true that at first she was utterly overwhelmed at all the new features, with help from Mizuki, she fully mastered her new weapon within months and was photographing like the professional she was. At this point the only other gripe she had would be the inability to nullify danmaku but that was nothing Nitori could not fix.

Aya knew that the place was called a "Grand Shrine" but she was not expecting it to be so large. She closed her eyes, getting a reading of the mana round her.

"As to be expected of a major shrine." The land still possessed a considerable amount of mana, it could not hold a candle to Gensokyo but compared to other areas she had visited, the shrine was pretty well off. Those two Goddesses were lucky to have their shrine be built here and for it to receive such an amount of attention

The Reporter wandered around a bit letting the map do its work. It was about time for her to do an investigation of her own, after looking around the Tengu spotted one and walked up to a shrine maiden that looked around the proper age.

"Excuse me, Miko-san, can I bother you for a bit?" Aya asked.

"Oh, yes, what is it you need?" The young shrine maiden turned revealing a pair of beautiful black eyes. She was a bit on the short side with a short head of hair ending at her shoulders.

"Do you happen to know one named Kochiya Sanae?"

The shrine maiden blinked, "You know what happened to Sa-chan?!" The miko practically crashed into the Tengu. "Where is she Is she alright Why did she leave? Tell me, please, tell me!"

"Hey Kourenji, don't interrogate the visitors like that!" An older shrine maiden, likely Kourenji's superior, reprimanded the younger while taking her off Aya.

"But-" the younger shrine maiden tried to protest but was swiftly silenced by the older.

"I'm really sorry about this…" the older one began.

"Shameimaru, Shameimaru Aya."

"Yes, I'm sorry about his Shameimaru-san, she does not usually act like that."

"No, it's my fault it seems my question triggered that kind of response."

"Oh? What question would that be if you don't mind me asking?"

"Did she know a Kochiya Sanae?"

The older shrine maiden's eyes widened, looked to her pouting junior then sighed, "Okay, Yusa please entertain what questions our guest may have, but please do so in private."

The younger nodded vigorously then proceeded to drag Aya inside. From afar the older shrine maiden looked on, "She always gets like that when it involves Kochiya-san," for a brief moment a look of deep sadness crossed the shrine maiden's face, "I hope you're fine wherever you are."

Inside one of the receiving rooms, Aya waited and prepared a list of questions while the shrine maiden, Kourenji Yusa from what she gathered, prepared tea. Thankfully too, Aya had not expected that kind of reaction from the girl, sure maybe a little curiosity or sadness. It was not even out of the question that no one would recognize the name but that was quite a different reaction. After Kourenji-san finished serving the tea Aya jumped straight into it.

"Like you heard outside I'm Shameimaru Aya. It's nice to meet you Kourenji-san."

"It's also nice to meet you Shameimaru-san."

"I'm sorry to tell you but I don't know where Kochiya-san is." Aya hoped she sounded believable and it looked like she was. The shrine maiden looked visibly let down upon hearing the reporter's words. "B-but that's why I'm here to learn more about her and find her. So then may I ask what were her history and your history with her?"

Yusa took a breath to compose herself. "To start from the beginning, as I'm sure you know Sa-chan was raised here in the shrine. Her parents had been involved in a fatal car accident shortly after she was born. The head priestess took her in since she was a close friend of Sa-chan's mother."

"As for me, I met her in primary school; we were each other's first friends and were inseparable from day one. You know Sa-chan was the reason why I became a shrine maiden, she asked me to try helping out and well here I am today." Her smile was so bright it was hard to look at.

Aya could not help but smile back, "how was she with others then?"

"Oh, Sa-chan was really great with people, unlike me. I guess you kind of have to be as a shrine maiden. She could easily strike up a conversation and loved the company of others. She had many friends despite her…quirks," The only response Aya could come up with was raising one of her eyebrows, which Yusa quickly picks up on, "I-I mean that she liked games, anime, fantasy, Sci-fi that kind of stuff and well, not everyone likes those but that seemed to hinder her only a little when it came to making friends. And…um…" she trailed off looking like she was debating something with herself.

"Um…" Yusa began after around a minute of internal debate, "Please keep this a secret, okay. Sa-chan begged me not to tell anyone but I think this could help, so…um…"

Aya merely nodded. Yusa took another breath, "Well, I overheard her talking to invisible people once. What were their names, ah…Ka…Kan…"

"Kanako," Aya let out almost on reflex.

"Yes! Kanako-sama and Su-Suwako-sama, if I remember correctly. She held them in high regard, higher than teachers, the head priestess, anyone really."

"And she talked to them often?" Aya continued hoping to keep Yusa distracted from the fact she knew Kanako.

"I wouldn't know, I only heard her once, it was after a festival. I forgot which though. They seemed to be conversing on how to improve the festival. I asked Sa-chan about it a few days later and that was when she asked I not talk to anyone else about it."

"Okay, I understand. Now, about her eight years ago disappearance was there anything unusual you could remember about that time."

Yusa's eyes suddenly became interested in table and her shoulders began shaking, "It was around a little over half a year before, it was small and barely noticeable at first. She would seem distracted from time to time or suddenly frown for a second. Around spring of that year she began to distance herself from others and always looked like she was brooding over something. Until s-she reached the point…where…where she completely shut out everyone. She only left the shrine to go to school, she w-wouldn't talk to a-a-anyone." She was crying rivers, "then one day she left and never came back."

"I-I knew something was wrong but-but I didn't do a thing!" She slammed her fists on the table, "I could tell she was facing a tough decision yet I pretended like everything was fine!" She finally looked up and with bloodshot eyes stared at Aya's, "I-I-I could have done something, lightened her burden or…or I might have stopped her from leaving that day… but…but I…" She bowed her head once again and fully broke into incoherent sobs.

As much as Aya wanted to yell the girl to stop worrying and beating herself up over the fact, she would not have understood Sanae's problem anyway. The Tengu just could not bring herself to say so. Instead she got up and gathered the girl into her arms and let her cry into Aya's shoulder.

It took a while but eventually Yusa calmed down. "I-I'm sorry for ranting a-about my failure as a friend and breaking down like that."

"It's alright and for the record I don't think a failure would have an emotional breakdown over someone who from the sound of it left of her own volition." Yusa opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by a hand from Aya, "that's just my opinion."

"Yes, um, is there anything else Shameimaru-san?"

"I think that is all the information I need. Thank you for putting up with my request even if it brought back painful memories."

"It's fine. It is for Sa-chan after all, so no matter how much it hurts, I'll pull through." The shrine maiden glanced at the room's wall clock. "It's almost lunch; please wait just a bit longer, I will prepare what I can as fast soon as possible."

"Eh, wait, no no, I don't want to impose. I can just get something from town. I can make it before lunch."

"That would be unacceptable for me as a host. I believe the head priestess would say the same. Just sit patiently while I go get our meals ready." Without waiting for a reply Yusa left the room.

"That was some good food," Aya muttered followed by a contented sigh. The shrine maiden's cooking was superb. While not as good as Sakuya's, it ranks number one out of everything outside the Scarlet Mansion. Add the fact that it was pretty much free, Aya had not right to complain.

The afternoon sun smiled brightly as the Tengu made her way from the Suwa Grand Shrine. She took one more glance at the mountain the paused.

"Maybe some mountain climbing would do me some good."

00000

And another part is down for the count. There will be another part to conclude this story. I wonder what the consequence this will have for the story is. As with any other events in the story, it does not happen in isolation.

To clarify something as you probably got the bearing for this mini-story already, this happened when Aya was not present for the Blanche extermination.

As you probably have guessed, Kourenji Yusa is erickkarver's idea. Do you like her for the organization? Too bad, it is too late. She is coming with us *pull out the pistol.*


	32. Chapter 32: Side Aya's Adventure III

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Finally the last part of the story is here. I decided to release it early. However, as a tradeoff, I will not be releasing anymore chapter until the end of next week.

Actually, there might be one more if I could manage to get everything to work, but no promise.

00000

Part 3:

"That, that changes several things," Aya thought as she trekked up the mountains overlooking the shrine. All in all her impression of the Moriya shrine maiden had improved somewhat. It was no secret that the Moriya Shrine and its residents came from the Outside, thus the shrine maiden had many similarities to humans who suddenly found themselves inside Gensokyo.

The initial surprise and, if they decided to remain, the eventual longing for the technology they were used to. The shock of finding the many Youkai, such as Aya herself, they only heard of in myth and legend; the shrine maiden to a lesser extent since she could actively interact with her goddesses. And finally, their descriptions of the Outside World were near exact copies of each other. The one thing that separated the wind priestess from other humans, and greatly interested Aya, was her willingness to enter and remain in Gensokyo.

Many humans who ended up within the barrier would always want to return to the other side, save for those looking for a second chance. From the details Aya had gotten from the young Kochiya she seemed to enjoy life outside and the testimony of the Suwa Shrine maiden served to verify Aya's assumptions further. The Moriya Shrine's goddesses gave the human a choice that much is certain. Yasaka Kanako is not so authoritarian that she would impose such blind obedience from the green haired priestess on such a monumental matter yet Kochiya Sanae chose to willingly leave her family, friends, and her happy life here for an uncertain and possibly dangerous one in Gensokyo.

"Just how important are those goddesses to her?" Aya asked to no one in particular.

While this investigation cleared up Kochiya Sanae's past, it brought up the relationship between her and her goddesses; not to mention the origins of said goddesses. Aya heard of the wars that broke out between the native and central gods when Japan's unification was in progress, but usually when the native god was supplanted they disappeared but Moriya Suwako was still around and even had a fine relationship with Yasaka Kanako, the one who defeated her.

Aya's train of thought stopped when she came to a small clearing. It was around sunset and she was high enough for a clear view of the event far from any known path or trail. She sat down on a large rock then looked around to see if anyone was watching. After the precaution she opened her wings slowly letting out the tension and kinks from keeping them hidden for so long, "Ahhh…that feels good."

The only real place she could keep her wings out was at the Scarlet Mansion or when one of the magicians or Reisen was around to keep an illusion around her, or when she had one of those crystals Lunaire gave her. But outside of that, she could not even fully relax inside her own apartment, under the threat of being exposed too early as something more than human.

Even so, this far into the mountains where only the foolhardy or the seriously unlucky come and so far from civilization where the chirps of the birds, the creaking of branches, the rustling of leaves and the whispers of the wind were unchallenged, Aya felt that she could indulge herself a little here.

This was not Aya's first time being around what was left of the nature, but she usually ended up in a flatland forest or a city park. This was her first time going up a mountain that was not by bus or other forms of public transportation and even though this place was not as tall as Youkai Mountain it was still a mountain none the less.

Aya let out a sigh as she viewed the setting sun at the same time the sharp pain deep in her chest grew more intense and pronounced. The Tengu would be lying if she said she did not feel homesick, especially right now.

It was not that she was ungrateful to the others, but within their somewhat ragtag group she was the odd one out. Each one belonged to a group, The Scarlet Devil Mansion was always a tightly knit family, and the four magicians were the main group moving their plans forward. Reisen was quite friendly with several others, but Aya herself only had a fairly causal relationship with Marisa. Despite this they still made Aya feel welcome and at home. There was no way she could be more grateful than she already was.

Even then, could anyone blame her for missing the place she called home for centuries, from even before the creation of Gensokyo? She missed Youkai Mountian, the Tengu Village, even those she did not have the best relationship with. Momiji comes to mind.

Aya and Momiji got into fights with each other often, whenever they meet. The whole village knew that and how could Aya not when that wolf looked down on all crow tengu. No matter how much Hatate insisted that it was just a personal thing between them, Aya felt she was right. Aya had to admit though during the rare times she and the white wolf were not fighting, Momiji was quite cooperative not to mention her utmost loyalty to the Great Tengu, which could only be matched by her faithfulness to her duties of patrolling the mountain and her effectiveness at the job.

Speaking of her collages, Aya wondered how Hatate fared the past years. Hatate and the Kakashi Spirit News was the only one Aya considered an actual rival for her and the Bunbunmaru. Of course, that was only after Hatate shadowed Aya in an effort to learn how Aya found her news scoops. Since then the Kakashi Spirit News shot up in popularity.

It was honestly nice having close competition. Not that Aya ever had any competitors before that but she released her new editions notably earlier than the other because of Aya's sheer speed. Now her speed was closely followed by Hatate's Spirit Photography. It gave Aya more drive to find news stories and release more papers, not to mention with two popular papers it was a lot easier for the tengu to control the flow of information.

A soft yet sudden snap brought Aya out of her reverie. In one smooth and rapid motion she folded her wings in and snapped her head around looking for the source of the sound. She mentally chastised herself. She was so absorbed in nostalgia that she lost track of her surroundings.

"What a magnificent pair of wings," a raspy voice came from the trees.

"Who's there?" Aya sounded calm yet she had her fan already in hand pointed at the area she heard the voice come from.

"No need to get violent here Tengu-san, no one else around here but I," the voice revealed himself to be a casually dressed man. He had long mud-brown hair tied in a single long ponytail; the blowing wind made it dance around like a coiling snake hanging from a tree branch, and had dark-moss colored eyes. His face showed lines of fatigue and pale skin.

"How do you know what I am?" She pointed her fan threateningly at the guy. If he knew she was a tengu, then he should know what Aya's fan was capable of. To his credit, the mud-haired newcomer raised his hands in an attempt to placate her.

"Now, now I said there was no need to use force. I can't put up much of a fight against you. As for how I knew, how could I not from those great crow wings."

Aya said nothing while glaring daggers at him till she noticed something, "You're not human…you're a Youkai."

"That would be correct," he replied.

"Then what are you? You know which I am so it is only proper courtesy to reveal yours."

"Yes, speaking of politeness, I am sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am Souren Kujo, as for what I am," he walked near a tree and to Aya's mild surprise he transformed into an enormous brown scaled serpent loosely coiled around the tree's trunk, some of it hung from the tree's branches and there was still enough for part of the snake to remain on the ground.

"An Uwabami?" in all honesty, Aya was not expecting a snake; a tanuki or some other trickster-type youkai but not a serpent.

The serpent hissed then transformed back into human form, "correct again, I am glad you recognized, Tengu-san." Kujo's voice was raspy and rough as if it has not been used in a long time.

"I'm Shameimaru Aya," she said, finally lowering her fan, "now Souren-san why were you stalking me?"

"Why would I not, when such a beautiful lady is in front of me?"

Aya instinctively took a step back, "That was creepy, really creepy."

"Yes it probably was, I'm sorry for that tasteless remark, anyway the true reason is that I felt your presence and became curious, I don't get many visitors."

"Well, I haven't seen other Youkai myself lately."

"That is unfortunate but I believe it would be better that we continue this conversation at my home with a cup of tea away from this cold."

Aya had to admit the wind chill here was pretty bad despite it not being as high up as Aya normally would, but the fact that she was pretty much immune to it already almost made her refuse. Yet, the prospect of tea was enticing and also considering she needed to prepare some questions for this unprecedented meeting, as well her host's lack of affinity for the cold too, "Alright, I accept the offer, please lead the way."

At first, Aya had thought Kujo was pulling her leg when he led her in front of a bare rock face but then a hole opened up big enough for the two of them. Aya had forgotten that Uwabami had some control over water and earth; while not very strong as compared to the kappa or Suwako it still seems to come in handy.

Souren Kujo's home was a little deep in the mountain, inside a cave; whether it natural or something he worked on was unclear. Shafts of light seeped in from large holes in the cavern surface, the amount was not enough for a human pair of eyes but it was sufficient for Youkai to see around clearly.

The modest one-story structure itself was made out of wood. It looked to have a good number or rooms. The house was rather well kept. It was clean but one could see the marks of age on it. The receiving room was simple, tatami floor, a wooden table that could easily be called an antique, a few scrolls decorated the walls alternating between calligraphy or a painting two open windows provided air flow for the room lit by candlelight.

Kujo finished taking a sip from his tea, placed it back on the table then began, "So if I may begin Shameimaru-san, where did you come from?"

"I came from Tokyo, I wanted to go around see the sights, I've never been to the Nagano Prefecture before," Aya stuck to her generic automatic response. It's not like she was lying after all.

"Oh no, I'm sure you know what I really mean." He replied staring straight into the Tengu's eyes.

"I don't think I do, would you please explain yourself a little more," Aya replied matching his gaze.

"As I have said, I do not get many visitors, less that I can feel a concentration of mana from, and none of them can match yours-"

"But you have met others who can sense mana from?" Aya interjected.

"Yes, all of them are Youkai."

"And where are they?" The prospect of meeting more of their kind excited the reporter.

"I chased all of them off." The abrupt reply came.

"What, why?"

"Because they would have gotten rid of me one way or the other from this, my land that keeps me from having to sleep or fading away, it is unfortunate but that is the world now, eat or be eaten," Kujo sadly replied.

"If that's so then why are you being so nice to me?" She asked although Aya had a hunch already.

"In all honesty, I was preparing myself to do just that until I actually saw you. The amount of power I could feel from you dispelled any notion of me defeating you which brings me back to my question. Where did you come from? That land must be unprecedentedly rich in mana for you to be at the level you are."

"Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss the matter," Aya's hunch was right, even if she was not bleeding mana the amount she has sends out a beacon to those who can sense mystic power. She had better tread carefully as not to disclose any information about the other or Gensokyo.

"I thought as much, such a place must be kept in tight secrecy."

"I'm glad you understand but it is surprising hearing all this talk on mana from you as your species is not known for their sorcery."

"True, but when you have lived a few centuries you end up picking up a thing or two."

"Now I think it is my turn to ask questions," The Reporter cleared her throat and readied her notebook, "You said this land is yours but how did you acquire it for I believe it belonged to someone else?"

"I merely took it for myself when those two goddesses vacated it. I think it was around eight years ago. I am not sure if they faded away or just left. All I know is that one day they were suddenly gone," he took a sip of his tea. "Surprising really considering how much this place means to the smaller one."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Aya's interest was fully piqued.

"Well it is a long story, one that begins long before you and I were even around, so just know a lot of this information is second hand or third hand."

"I understand, please continue."

"It was long before Japan was made one, this land was called the Kingdom of Moriya. Centered on Suwa Lake, it was ruled by a native god, Suwako Moriya. She was powerful compared to their native gods; after all, she managed to make the local curse gods heed her commands and hers alone.

But like many things, it came to an end. When the unification of Japan came so did the gods from Yamato. They had asked her to step down for the unification of the country, but as you would expect she refused. She would not back down without a fight, but it was one she lost.

It was a little after that time when one of my relatives, who I heard this from, met that native god. Contrary to what I imagined, she accepted her loss gracefully and was content to watch the croaking frogs at the edge of the lake until she faded away. My relative frequented that spot due to the delicious, juicy frogs that gathered there, he and the goddess got into a fight. He lost obviously, but was surprised at the strength the goddess still had despite being cut off from faith. He still visited the spot but now to exchange stories rather than to feast on the native goddess's favorite animals.

Then one day they had a new visitor, the new goddess, Yasaka Kanako. She had come to talk to her former opponent. My relative rarely saw that odd native god after that. It seemed like the two deities had come to a deal of some sort that had Yasaka sharing her faith with Moriya."

That was interesting news, and it made some sense why those two were working together. "Do you know why?" Aya asked.

"Unfortunately no, they neither discussed it with my relative or me, but my kin had a theory. The new god Yasaka had granting wishes for weather as her main boon but the needs of the people were those for a good harvest, which the native god had. So I imagine that Yasaka had asked Moriya to continue her blessing the fields while she remained the face of the shrine. In exchange Moriya would be sustained by the faith that Yasaka would share, the native god seemed fine with that arrangement when asked her about it."

"Wait, you met her?" Aya was genuinely surprised.

"Yes about two decades ago, give or take around five years." His eyes became distant as he talked. "She was going around the lake at night listening to the frogs croaking in the lake. We conversed all night. It was mostly me confirming what I had heard from my relative. I had asked her why she was at the lake before we parted ways as the dawn broke. Her reply was that she was savoring the lake and her beloved amphibians because she wouldn't see them for a long time."

"Interesting, if I may ask where this relative of yours is? I'd like to ask him for details myself."

"He was exterminated long ago, had eaten too many humans." He replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Aya backed off from stepping on that land mine.

"Don't be it was a long time ago, we had warned him that he was attracting too much attention for his own good. He never listened to others well." Kujo even began to wave his hand in front of him to emphasize the point.

"That being said, I have to ask Uwabami have a rather famous appetite, how do you settle yours?"

"Haha, I was wondering if you would ask that. Well, for your information the mountain gives me enough, while it may not be to fully satisfy my large appetite, it is enough for me to survive." He replied heartily.

"And how about-"

"Humans," he beat her to the punch, "Well I have eaten a few, but they were far and few in between, hopelessly lost in the mountains those ones, I wonder why they even came here in the first place; and besides I learned not to attract too much attention to myself. It's truer now more than ever."

Silence fell between the two for some time with only the occasional scribbling of pen on paper breaking it. "Ah, may I ask where the washroom is," Aya asked.

"It's down the hall to the right, fifth door. I'll show you." Kujo began to get up.

"Oh no, I'll be quick," Aya was already at the door, "fifth door right?"

Kujo nodded which prompted Aya to head right. Soon she found the door she was looking for but an odd coldness tickled her bare feet, it seemed to come from further down the hall. Curiosity took over and Aya stepped past the washroom to investigate. She did not know how far she got as the doors began to all blend together, until she came to one slightly ajar.

Aya peeked inside and found someone lying down on a futon. She was young looking somewhere close to thirteen to fifteen years of age. She was in a kimono, a thin one that was snow white and had light blue depictions of something, Aya could not see well form her current angle. Her immaculate skin was a pale white as if her skin was white to begin with and became paler, if that was possible. And her hair was jet black; it was voluminous pooled around her head. Those features combined with the chill that seemed to emanate from her meant that she could only be a Yuki-Onna, but she showed little sign of life just the slight tremble of her chest showing very shallow breathing.

"It is rather rude to sneak around someone's home without their permission," Kujo said behind her.

"She is quite the sight isn't she," He moved past the tengu to adjust the girl's head which had fallen from the cushion under it, "I found her one winter a year ago after I woke from hibernation. She was collapsed near the entrance to my home. I suppose she ended up on this mountain when the cold season ended. She looked better back then."

"Why did you bring her in though?" Aya asked because it was contrary to what he stated earlier, rather than being insensitive.

"Maybe it was pity or just a whim but I wouldn't ignore a helpless one like her. I may chase off others from this mountain, but they could fend for themselves, find other areas, but someone like her they would fade away in like than a month."

A heavy silence fell upon the room; Aya had no idea what to do in this situation but it proved that Kujo was nicer than she initially thought.

"I have one request," Kujo started, "can you bring her to your home. She will not last long here, maybe six more months at best, three at worst. I cannot help her more than what I am already doing, but she might have a chance where you come from so could you please take her?"

Aya's went into rapid deep thought, weighing the pros and cons…she came to a decision, "Unfortunately that is not my decision to make, I am merely the scout," Kujo's expression dropped, "but I can bring it up to those who can, and I believe they have no reason to refuse."

The snake's face brightened, "but if you take her now then-"

"No it wouldn't work, there is a procedure to follow first, one that you have to do," Kujo held a sincerely confused appearance, "and if what I can tell is correct she only subsists because of this land if I take her out of it, she might not make the trip, I know of a better method but I have to talk to some others first."

"Alright, I can accept that, I'll wait for your return and please make it quick, she only has limited time left," Kujo said.

"But that means she still has time left," Aya replied with a smile, "besides I'm a tengu, there aren't other Youkai quicker than us."

Aya took to the air once the entrance to Kujo's home closed up. The crystal Lunaire gave her hung around her neck and was letting out a steady stream of steam as the winds grew in strength as she picked up in speed. The Suwa Grand Shrine, Souren Kujo, that Yuki-onna, and possibly even Kourenji Yusa, she learned a lot of useful things during this trip, things the others would want to hear in person. Aya flapped her wings growing in speed even more, she giggled, her first major scoop in a while. It felt good, really good and she was sure there were more to come.

00000

And there you go. The end of the side story about Aya from erikkarver, I hope you guys enjoy it. There might be more stories from him down the line.

Have a good day.

The next chapter will be on me now.


	33. Chapter 33: New Additions

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Long time no see everyone, I am finally back. The exam train is finally gone. This will be a double release to make up for the long absence.

However, even if it is a winter break for me, don't expect me to start mass producing chapters, because I still need my long awaited rest.

00000

"How did it go?"

The first question that Lunaire received caused his face to twitch. He wasn't even out of the front door of the mansion and now his smile was all cramped up. Combined with the bags under his eyes, the silver-haired magician looked worse for wear.

It wasn't a rare occurrence for Lunaire to be up all night. It could be said that one could safely assume that anyone loitering around in the middle of the night in the library was either Patchouli or Lunaire. However, there would rarely be any sign of fatigue the next day at breakfast.

Strangely, Lunaire's footsteps were heavy as he came lumbering in. All the while, his hand roughly combed through his disheveled lustrous hair from the flight. While he could simply teleport in, he decided that the fresh cold air in the morning would have to do for his stress relief.

Still, trace of exhaustion lingered. Lunaire squeezed his temple and sighed deeply at Marisa. He didn't say anything, but gestured with a wave for Marisa to follow him.

A glance at his wristwatch told him that they still had time left before the meeting. However, the current Lunaire was desperate to just find a chair to just sit on and wait.

Those idiots' chatters really did grate on his nerve. He could shut them out with silence magic, but he thought it would be much wiser to pay attention, just in case that these former terrorists got strange ideas. They apparently didn't, so Lunaire was tolerating nonsense for nothing.

* * *

"That concludes my report." Lunaire's pony tail swayed as he leaned back into his chair, exhausted from recounting his ordeal.

"In the end, they aren't as useful as you would have wanted them to be. Why am I not surprise?" Remilia cocked her head and giggled. He eyes shimmered slightly.

"But they could possibly be useful…" Alice's green eyes wavered.

"Sure, I went through all the effort to use both magic and speech to coax them into this after all. I will have them be useful somehow, so too bad Remilia. You won't be having them as your light snack." A long sigh escaped his lips. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands.

"They wouldn't be tasty anyway, so there is nothing lost on that matter. Sakuya's and your blood taste much better after all." Remilia licked her lips, revealing a glimpse of white fangs.

"Ghe?! Lunaire, she drank your blood?!" Slamming her hand on the wooden table, Marisa rose up from her chairs. Her wide eyes stared at him without blinking.

"Aye, this cheeky bugger would always leap at my neck all the time back in the day, like an oversized mosquito. Now it was quite alright though, because there is Sakuya to pick up the slack."

"Who are you calling mosquito?!" Remilia hissed.

Alice and Reisen were holding in their giggled. Their eyes narrowed comfortably. While they did not live at Scarlet Devil Mansion before, over their stay here, they had gotten used to Lunaire's usual jab.

A cheerful laugh rang throughout the spacious dining room of the mansion. At such banter, Aya seemed to be so amused that she couldn't keep her seat. She had to admit that she liked this lighthearted conference than the stuffy Tengu general meeting at home.

"Oh right, Aya, you said that you had something important to report."

"Lunaire, don't you dare change topic! Look over here!" Remilia reached out with her arms. Her hand made a claw as if she was trying desperately to scratch a piece out of him. With her short stature, it was a tall task to reach his seat though.

"Do not mind her. Remilia can be like this sometime. Carry on, Aya."

"Very well. I won't mince my word. There are some people I want them to join us here." Aya stared straight at him. While her posture was upright, her eyes wavered. Beneath her professional front hid her own personal attachment.

"Here? You mean the organization or here, like in…here?" Lunaire prismatic blue eyes narrowed with a strange gleam. The room quieted down. Even Remilia went silent at such announcement.

"I meant here, of course. Specifically, within our barrier, so at Hakurei Shrine after you install the keystone should also suffice."

"Them am I correct to infer that it involves mana? Don't tell me that they…" Alice inquired, but her voice trailed off at the end.

"They are Youkai."

As if on a que, everyone hitched their breaths. All eyes focused on Aya. Each of them had their own expression.

Form a glance, Remilia scarlet eyes seemed to sparkle. It didn't take the brightest bulb to know that she was excited and that was a terrible thing.

On the side of the magicians, both by race and occupation, they were both thrilled as they were apprehensive. They now understand that they weren't alone in the world and that opened up a whole new possibility. They had to now deal with both the scientific and dying magical side of the world. Because of this, they could no longer claim that they firmly held exclusive advantage on something. Other than the fact that their magic might be superior, mana was no longer what they had monopoly on as of now.

Another can of worm that they opened was the relationship with the remaining Youkai. Because they were so focused with modern politics, they knew nothing about the power structure on the supernatural side.

Ho, and what is it that they want form our area? I will say it first that if they intended to take this area for its mana-rich atmosphere, they can dream on. We will defend this place to the last." Lunaire muttered in low tone. His expression was unreadable, but from the content of his words, he was serious.

"No, no, no, they are not planning anything like that. They are barely living anyway with the condition outside. One of them is in critical condition. If you leave them out, she will disappear!" Aya was rushed as she listed her argument, making her a bit winded at the end.

"…"

"…Lunaire, you are tense."

At Alice's mention, Lunaire twitched as his eyes widen. It took a while before he began to lean back in his seat. He grabbed his temple and began massaging it gently. After a deep breath, he planted his hands firmly on the table.

"Apology, I was being overly alarmed. So, who are they?"

An Uwabami and a Yuki-Onna, both were living around the mountain near Suwa Grand Shrine." When she saw Lunaire relaxing. Aya began easing up too.

"Suwa? Is the place somehow related to Suwako?"

"I can't conclusively say, but it's most likely."

"Very well, go on. What do they want?" It was Remilia's turn to be impatient.

"The snake can probably live for another long while, but the Yuki-Onna can last only for a few more months. The snake asked if I oculd take the girl to somewhere she could survive."

"I don't really see why not. Our mana barrier will encompass the whole Japan anyway. We will have to deal with native youkai, so why not start sooner rather than later." Alice closed one of her eyes and offered her two cents.

"Well sure. Aya, I will draft a secrecy Geass, so you bring it with you tomorrow." Lunaire shrugged his shoulders as he informed so.

"How should we make sure that the Yuki-Onna make the trip? She is quite weak." Aya blinked curiously.

"Just douse her in some Aqua Magia. The mana rich water like that would do the trick. Reisen, why don't you go supervise." Lunaire lazily rested his head on the table.

"Wow, just like that?" Marisa quipped.

"What do you mean?" Lunaire blinked owlishly.

"I expected you to strongly object to the idea. Like the usual when you say it is the way things work in the outside world. However, this time, you easily consented to it." Marisa craned her neck and wondered.

"Yeah, I am curious too. What kind of wind blows today? I really want to know." As soon as Lunaire saw Remilia's grin, he deployed his emergency poker face. If she was directing such grin at him, the probability of him liking the outcome she had prepared for him was astronomically low. His first course of action was to prepare evasive maneuver.

"It is nothing special. They might be useful and become one of the steps to fulfill our plan after all." He chuckled nervously.

"Hmm, I am not sure that is all. Perhaps, you had special interest for Yuki-Onna."

"Nein, she is probably too cold for my liking." Lunaire covered his mouth as he yawned, acting as if the earlier comment didn't faze him in the slightest.

Their conversation gradually drifted toward more carefree topic as the food prepared by Sakuya began to arrive.

* * *

 _ **Later in the night**_

Soft footsteps alerted Lunaire of the newcomer. He leaned back on his chair and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Reading in the middle of the night while stressed might not be the best idea on his part.

"Meiling, you came."

"What is it, Lunaire-sama? Do you require something from me?"

"Yes, have a seat." He gestured toward the chair on the opposite side of the table. While waiting for Meiling to take a seat, he took a chance to rub the tension out of his stiff shoulders.

Raising her eyebrows in wonder, Meiling reached the chair in long strides. She simply propped her butt on the chair and leaned back, making herself comfortable. Lunaire couldn't say he hated her laid-back attitude.

"I will get straight to the point. You will be taken of the guard duty…"

"Wait! No! Did mistress fire me?!" Her laid-back posture took a turn as she sprang forward. Her face went close to Lunaire's, making him reeled back from her energy.

"Nothing like that. We have another task for you."

"Oh, so it is just like that." In a huge sigh, she leaned back again.

"That was quite sudden, but no matter. I want you to train a group of around twenty humans."

"What? They want to study my prided Tai Chi Chuan. Great, I will whip them into shape. By the time I am done with them, they will blossom properly into masters!" She raised her fist up high in the air.

"I don't need them to turn into martial art masters. I only need them to be fit enough and can handle light grappling. Training them to be so good at martial art to be able to fight Youkai on equal ground is too inefficient."

"Then, what good would they be?"

"They will join our organization as trainee fighting force."

"If they are going to be fighting, why not train them as much as we can?"

"At the end of the day, martial arts will only be their supplemental skill. I only need them to have proper foundation. Their main fighting power will come from something else." Lunaire smiled mysteriously. Meiling could only scratch her head.

"Then what would they be using to fight then? As far as I know, there is proper martial art for every type of weapons."

"Sure, but I think you won't know the techniques that go with the weapons I have in mind. Meiling, do you remember the things I have been experimenting on the target outside for many years." He took a sip out of his steaming teacup.

"Oh, that thing with strange shape and makes loud noises, right?"

"Call it guns or firearms, please. How you are describing it like that is quite disgraceful for the weapon." Lunaire sweat dropped.

"Still, isn't that thing quite useless. The little metal round they fire are quite fast, but nothing special. If that is all it can do, it won't be very useful you know?" Meiling eyed him incredulously. It was normal for her to think that way. Other than the lowest Youkai, conventional bullet with only kinetic energy wouldn't faze any self-respecting Youkai upfront.

"You are quite right. However, with access to proper automatic weapons and advance manufacturing method, I can finally bring my research on Magia crystal to fruition."

"Those blue crystals in your room?"

"Indeed, my research concern the effort to make guns a viable weapon. I figure that we cannot increase the power of handheld weapon too much or normal human won't be able to handle the recoil. The key is with incorporating magical properties into the bullet. If each of those can piece magical defense and explode, it would be more effective. Don't you think?"

"It still is not special in front of Danmaku, so why bother?"

"There are many who could deploy Danmaku in Gensokyo, but those who couldn't outnumber them by large margin. The topic of my research is to increase the firepower of as large number of people as much as possible. If Lunarian decided to really invade, I doubt that our combined firepower will be enough without something on the side. I invent Aqua Magia, Magia crystals and these bullets to be that little something on the side. Since it matched quite well with the new trainees, it will be a good opportunity to gather field data."

"Alright then, where are they?"

"I will take you to them tomorrow. Be prepared. They can be quite annoying." He grumbled.

00000

Well, one chapter down for the count. I still have one more.

It seems quite boring with no action happening, right? Still, I have something I must address before that. It is the people back at First High. There is someone who are aware of Blanche's plan or expecting them to make a move. I wonder how they are doing at this moment.

Without Blanche happening, there will certainly be difference in the way people act.

Like always, if you have any comment or suggestion, please leave a review. If you don't, please leave a review anyway. It is a good motivation for me


	34. Chapter 34: Suspicion From All Sides

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Here is your double chapter, so enjoy.

I will tell you first that this happen the night of the recruitment. In other word, it was happening when Lunaire was busy convincing Blanche to join the cause.

00000

 _ **The Night Before**_

"Onii-sama, is there something on your mind?"

Hearing that, Tatsuya paused a little while trying to reach for the coffee mug his sister had set down. His eyebrows scrunched together. The mug stayed in his hand, but he did not take a sip. Not even a sound was made for a few seconds as his eyes looked forward without focusing on anything. It was moment before his eyes focused back on his sister.

"Just a little. Something doesn't feel right."

"And what would that be?" Miyuki tilted her neck and blinked.

"Do you remember about the Blanche organization I told you about before?"

"Yes, I remember that quite clearly. What about them?" Miyuki sat down on the sofa.

"During the forum today, I spot quite a few students wearing wristband belonging to the Egalite, a subordinate organization to Blanche."

"Oh my, they managed to gain enough foothold in the school to dare parade around with such symbol." Miyuki covered her mouth with her hand, while Tatsuya's frown deepened.

"It is not how bold they are, but the looks on their faces during the forum that concerns me." Tatsuya took a sip from the mug he held on to for so long.

"The looks?"

"They are expecting something. By that I mean they were waiting for something to happen and were panicking when nothing happened by the end of the forum."

"So…they had something panned." Miyuki inferred.

"Not just planned, but executed. However, something must have gone wrong in the process." Tatsuya joined his hands together after setting his mug down.

"Then isn't that a good thing, Onii-sama? Nothing happened after all." The naïve comment made Tatsuya smiled bitterly.

"But they are still there. If they don't surface, then it is hard to root them out."

"That sounds like trouble. Onii-sama, why don't we inquire Yakumo-sensei. He is sure to know something we don't."

"It seems that it is the only way for now." Tatsuya closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose.

* * *

"I thought they are going to try something today. They were totally preparing for it the day before. But now what are they doing?" They woman lying prone behind the bush cursed silently.

Her frustration wasn't uncalled for as she had been peering into her binocular for the past three hours to see the same damn thing. She waited to observe something happening, but the factory remained the same. One floor remained lit, while the others were completely black. There were no guard, no patrol, no nothing. She could see nothing of what was going on in the factory at all.

She also came the night before and noted that they were preparing for an operation, presumably at First High, if their infiltration was of any indication. It was without a doubt that they would strike the next day, so she reported it to the public safety. However, they didn't strike, so she came again to check.

Before she could curse any further, she heard a whiz. Something fast just went passed her ear. A second later, a patch of dirt in front of her erupted into tiny explosions.

"Snipers! Since when do Blanche employ sniper as guards?!"

While she almost lost her head, she still quipped snidely as she scurried away. The shots kept following her, barely missing the mark. It was too long before she completely broke away from their line of fire and then later, leaving the area entirely.

A quick drive took her home, but it never really did calm her rapidly beating heart. All she needed was a quick bath, but she had to file in a report to the public safety division she worked under and another to her teacher, Kokonoe Yakumo, first. It was quite an ordeal, because Ono Haruka's life was almost ended that day.

* * *

"Oh, sorry for the pause. I just thought that the rat outside had seen quite enough, so I just saw her out." Lunaire spoke casually, but his few words were enough to scare these children.

Since the beginning of the recruitment speech, he had noted the woman loitering outside the barrier. Although it was unlikely for her to see anything through the camouflage, her sitting around and watching had to stop.

In short, he condensed ice shards and fired at the spy with pinpoint accuracy, barely missing her. Lunaire, after all, did not wish to clean up another body, even when the other party didn't see anything notable.

He did make it a point to start searching for somewhere less noticeable. Also, he had to start watching his steps around the school counselor, Ono Haruka. He grimaced internally as government these days just had the gall to put a spy in a high school. Still, it more than slightly irritated him that although this woman was here the night before and should have seen the preparation. During the forum, no one did anything, no additionally security, no nothing. What was the point of just observing without doing anything even if the terrorists were poised to strike at the school she worked in?

Still, it's good for Lunaire as the more incompetent they were, the easier time he would have in moving around.

* * *

Her heart was in turmoil. Mari was very confused. She expected that there were some people up to no good during the forum. They looked so confident and as if they were waiting for something. However, at the end, they were panicking. Mari felt the need to find out, but she was a little bit afraid of what she would find in the end.

While that was concerning, there was another matter, Lunaire. That cheeky underclassman was grinning like no tomorrow. The two girls he was usually seen with were also ignoring their surroundings. Furthermore, when they saw the students with colored wristbands panicking, Lunaire was wearing a feral grin. He knew something if what she was seeing was not just a coincident. Still, Mari was convinced.

She did not share her speculation with Mayumi as she wasn't confident enough to defend her friend from picking her theory apart like paper origami. But, she intended to find out. This underclassman had been quite suspicious in her mind for a while now.

Shelving her thought for another time, she went in the shower before turning in for the day. It was after all Friday, so she wanted to be well-rested to enjoy her weekend.

* * *

"Onee-chan, what is on your mind? You don't seem to eat very well at dinner."

"Oh, it's nothing major, Kasumi. I am just a little bit tired. Today might be a bit too stressful."

"Onee-chan, are you alright? Izumi told me that you were holding a forum today. I bet you totally blown the other side out of the water." Kasumi beamed as she hopped up and down. Mayumi who was sitting on her bed could only smile as she watched her adorable sister.

"It's like that, so Onee-chan is very tired."

"Is that so? Then do you want a cuddle?" Kasumi stretched her arms out.

"Come over here!" Mayumi really doted on her little sister.

But her mind was absent for the adorable moment. For some reason, she could not help, but return to the strange moment of the forum.

She didn't like the subtle malice flowing around one bit. She wasn't the third child and eldest daughter of Saegusa for nothing. Mayumi could easily read the mood and expression on someone's face.

It would not be strange if something happened. But nothing did and in the place of all that, one group stuck out like a sore thumb. Most would pay attention to the forum. Some would ignore it. However, no one was quite like them as they meticulously scanned the room and showed the reaction to some students panicking. If they ignored her speech and minding some other business, she would consider it normal. Observing other students like that was strange to say the least.

Whether it was their otherworldly feeling, their appearance and their disposition set them apart from all others. They looked as if they always knew what they were doing. For some reason, she felt pride like no other from them. However, unlike the vainglorious haughtiness, the way they carried themselves was uncaring, but not disgustingly aloof and unpleasant. In any case, it was even more fitting to look up to them. If she was to list off all other characteristics that made them stood out, it would take her more than a few hours before she was finished.

Nonetheless, the matter still stood that they were suspicious. Her intuition was screaming at her and she was struggling to prove it, which was her current dilemma.

"Onee-chan, you are spacing out again!" Kasumi grew annoyed as Mayumi's hand stopped patting her head.

"Ah, sorry Kasumi, here you go." Mayumi resumed patting her little sister's head, while struggling to clear her mind.

* * *

On the other end of the spectrum, Juumonji Katsuto wasn't content to bottle in his suspicion alone. From young, he had been trained to assume the mantle of the next head of Juumonji household of the Ten Master Clan. While Juumonji wasn't the strongest clan, they still came in third. In order to assume the responsibility for such behemoth, Katsuto trained both his body and mind into fine steel.

Although he was a man of few words that one might need a crowbar to pry his mouth opened, he was by no mean a passive man. If there was something he felt to be of value, he would properly investigate it and with the resources of Juumonji clan, it should be easy enough.

He harbored suspicion about Lunaire Meister, Alice Margatroid and Kirisame Marisa for a while now. Not only their foreign appearances, but mannerism tripped several alarms. They did not seem like common thugs coming to stir up trouble. Their eye-catching appearances would be counterproductive if that was the case. They seemed to be from a very established family with superb upbringing as they exhibited characteristics not often seen with common man.

Apart from their appearances and mannerism that could be the products of rigorous grooming, their auras were extraordinary. He did not have a lot of chances to meet them face to face. However, he caught many glimpses of them around the recruitment week and after. The result wasn't conclusive, but he gleaned at something. While their auras weren't impressive all the time, the moment they were irritated, their auras would burst forth and became rather domineering. It wasn't often he got to see this, but it was nonetheless awe-inspiring.

Their mysterious persona and their strange reaction during the forum finally culminated into acting on Katsuto's part. He decided to get to the bottom of both Lunaire's identity and Blanche. It could be said that Katsuto slightly hoped that Lunaire wasn't in league with Blanche or else he would have to root them out altogether.

By the end of this, Katsu wished for all to be revealed and answered for.

* * *

"The findings are suspicious? How so?" On her chair, Yotsuba Maya smiled mysteriously. The effect of her smile was rather unnerving, but not too much for the butler who served her for so long to handle.

"Their immigration record dated back to 2092. It was done properly through proper avenue or so it seemed. There might be some typical bribary, but all paperworks are genuine, so they are rather clean. However, I cannot trace their history before immigration to Japan. They seemed to come from Western European Bloc, specifically England, but their records are shaky. It could be fake, but our contacts couldn't find definite proof."

"And?"

"Considering their tremendous magical power, they might be from very old family in England or born in their secret magical institute somewhere. But it is very unlikely as Western Block would never let them go, considering that they are starving for magical talent even now."

"It's quite ironic. England used to be known as magical land, despite its current predicament. Still, for them to give birth to such rare talents, surpassing even our Miyuki, its name might not be so unfounded after all." As Maya pondered, her smile widened.

Hayama stared stoically as Maya grew more and more amused. He knew that when Maya grew intrigued, there was little that could stop her.

"Hayama, am I correct that they are acquainted with Miyuki and Tatsuya?" She giggled.

"You are indeed correct, ma'am."

"Then I guess I should contact Tatsuya to have him look around. I am sure he could as around. This, Lunaire-san, might be willing to spill out something himself, don't you think?" Maya grinned as she crossed her legs. Hayama was sure that her eyes glimmered just now, but he could not fathom much about what she was planning.

00000

Maya got her alarm tripped off. I mean it is around a month to late isn't it. The moment that Miyuki isn't the top of the whole freshman in term of magical power, Maya should be concerned. While she is still the freshman representative, overall rank one, two managed to surpass her. The best talent and the most probably successor to Yotsuba were simply surpassed by two nobodies like that. Of course, she would look around about them.

This chapter will outline all the suspicion pointed again the Touhou cast and will come back into play.

I apologize for the repetition of the feeling between Mayumi and Mari. However, I want it so that they felt the same thing, but they didn't share with each other. This will make them go separate way in pursuing their secret. However, I don't think this will go on for too long as they usually confide with each other on most issue.

Do you have any comment or suggestion? If so, please leave a review. It really motivates me to write more. Sorry for the long break guys.


	35. Chapter 35: Late Night Visits

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Well, Happy New Year guys! I present to you the 35th chapter. I have come a long way from the time I started. I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my little fiction.

00000

 _ **The Next Night**_

"Hello there!"

"Kya!" Her back shook as she spun around. Her eyes were wide open as she scanned the dimly lit interior of her room. She slammed her palm on the light switch and slightly regretted it the next moment. Through temporary blindness, she could hardly make out any detail on the intruder.

"What's the surprise? It's not as if we have never met, da ze! You are Sayaka Mibu, right?"

Mibu, who was about to scream, froze. She remembered this voice. It belonged to the girl who followed when those people broke in. She remembered that day more than she would have liked. Still, Mibu wondered just for what reason she was in her room. Her mind ran through the worst-case scenario as her face paled.

"Why are you here? We already agreed to whatever you people agreed. Just leave me alone! I thought you people said there will be nothing today. I am sick of this already." Mibu screamed off the top of her lungs. She was tightly strung for the past two days that she couldn't help but poured her heart out like that.

Hearing her outburst, Marisa cheeky smile turned solemn. She silently thanked the small talisman she stuck on the wall earlier or else everyone in the house would have heard her. Putting down her broom and silently closing the window, Marisa approached the sobbing girl with tentative steps.

When she got close, she knew that Mibu was devastated. Her shoulder trembled as she hugged herself, refusing to look up. While Mibu's hair covered her face, Marisa could tell that she was crying from the glistening liquid on her chin.

Marisa reached out her hand, which Mibu recoiled from. She didn't mind that and pressed on. Mibu's body twitched as Marisa touched her head. Marisa began patting gently without saying anything. She knew that the girl was hurt and desperately in need of kindness.

The quiet moment continued until a few rustle could be heard when Marisa pulled the girl to sit on the bed. Marisa still did not say anything as she plopped down on the fluffy bed beside her. On the side note, she quite like the spring in the modern bed.

"You are not going to say anything?"

"I intended to, but I forgot. I don't think it matters much anyway."

"Then why are you here?"

"I am here to talk to you."

"Another round of recruitment?" Mibu laughed ruefully.

"Not really. Lunaire called it counseling and memory debugging, da ze! Whatever that means."

"What?"

"I don't really understand, da ze. He just said that Blanche guy might be messing with your head, so…" Marisa reached into the notepad she hid in her apron." These questions might help you clear out." Passing the notepad to the girl, Marisa studied her expression closely.

"This?"

"Yup! So do you mind telling me a story? I am all ears, da ze!"

"…" Mibu was taken aback. One day, these people acted like tyrants, forcing them to make difficult choice. Now they were giving her a counseling session. It was so sudden that she couldn't help, but froze.

"Don't worry, I don't bite. Why don't we start with the first one? Why did you join Blanche?"

"To ensure equality…"

"We both know that is a childish lie. If they just wanted equality, then why would they attack a school full of children. Try again. I am sure you had some personal reason to even consider swooping that low." It was rare of her, but Marisa treated this with full seriousness it deserved.

"Ha ha, I guess you are right." Mibu laughed self-depreciatingly and looked down.

"So?"

"…For over a year, Captain Tsukasa kept recruiting Kendo club to end the discrimination by magic. As you know, his brother was the head of Blanche…The one you killed." Marisa winced at that mention. "The reason I was so taken in by his recruitment was because I felt I was discriminated against as a Course II Student."

"How?"

"There was one time when Kenjutsu club caused a ruckus. That time, Watanabe-senpai took my breath away when she took them down. I went to her for instruction, but she brushed me off. She said 'you're no match for me, so it would be a waste of time. Go pick out an opponent you're worthy of.'" Mibu bit down on her lips. "I don't want them to make light of my sword because of my poor magic!"

"Rubbish!"

"Eh?"

"Pure rubbish, if she said you aren't worthy enough, then work hard enough to make this Watanabe eats her own word. What is so hard about that?"

"…I am quite envious of you outlook on life."

"Ha ha, thanks! Tell you what, you shouldn't care. I don't care who this Watanabe is, but you should make her regret every saying that."

"Watanabe-senpai is our chief of public moral committee who is rumored to be undefeatable in antipersonnel combat, you know?" Mibu's eyes widen incredulously.

"Then work hard to be the first to topple her down."

"It's not that easy. She has magic…"

"Of course, it's hard. Would it be fulfilling if it is easy? You will learn more than a few things from us. After all, those you will be fighting might be far scarier than this little girl. When you graduate from being a rookie, you will find her to be just a nuisance. Besides, you might find some magic to even up the fight." Marisa smiled and giggled. Mibu could only laugh wryly to that.

"I am not good with magic, remember?"

"Hey, I am in Course II too, you know? Still, I once defeated Remilia." Marisa saw that Mibu trembled slightly at the mention of Remilia's name.

"The girl Lunaire said is Vampire? You won against her? Really?"

"Yah, I won fair and square, da ze! I am pretty good with magic on this side. So, it doesn't matter if you are not good with magic on that side. You might have some talent on this side. Still, you must work hard. We will meet again tomorrow, Sunday afternoon, so make sure to come."

"Lunaire told us about that, but where? He didn't mention." Mibu tugged on Marisa's sleeve.

"Ah, that is another reason I am here." Abruptly, Marisa flung up to her feet and pointed at one of the closet. "That is your closet, right?"

"Yes, why?" Mibu blinked

"Because this will take you to the meeting place. It's a secret, so don't tell anyone about this." As Marisa said such, her face turned mischievous. "Help me pull this out a bit."

"Okay?"

They pulled the closet out a bit before Marisa went to work. From god knows where, Marisa pulled out something that looked like a roll of poster. She unfurled it and stuck it to the back of the closet. It appeared to be a diagram of some sort to Mibu. There appeared to be some language written on it, which Mibu couldn't discern. Overall, it had the word occult all over it. When Marisa was done, she opened the closet and stuck a few cards with the pentagram inside. She then asked Mibu to help push it in.

"What did you do?"

"This closet will teleport you to the meeting place, da ze. Pretty neat, right? All you have to do is get inside, close the door and touch one of the card. When you say the keyword, you will appear at your training ground. It is not yet ready, but tomorrow, it will. The keyword is teleport to training ground. Simple, right?"

"Wait what? Teleport?"

"Yes, and here is your key." Marisa forked out another card and handed it to Mibu, who fumbled a little. "You will need it to teleport back here. Any more question? I have a few other to do some house call."

"I do. Teleport? You can do that…this closet? How?" Mibu drew close to stare at Marisa.

"I don't have time. Maybe you will learn of that someday. Anything else?" Reaching for her broom and craned her neck back.

"Are Youkai real?" When Mibu dropped the question that had been plaguing her for a long time, Marisa paused. The witch turned around and properly faced Mibu. She looked straight at her.

"Yes." Her answer was flat. Marisa peeled off the noise-inhibiting card and dropped out of the window.

In shock, Mibu rushed to the window and looked down. All that greeted her was the cool breeze. It wasn't long before Mibu gave up and locked the window. The problem she had next was that she found it to be terribly hard to fall asleep.

* * *

In the cold night, sudden wind blew. Aya landed and folded her wings. There was no point concealing her nature because she would be meeting her brethren Youkai soon.

As soon as she entered the cave, the interior was ringing with the sound of her footsteps. She usually wore her soft-soled boots when she was looking around to conform with modern society's standard. This time, she wore a Tengu Geta (one-toothed Geta), so it was noisier with the stone-floored cave. Deciding to properly greet a fellow Youkai, she broke out her more traditional wears and accessories.

Her white blouse with autumn theme print and black skirt wouldn't look too strange on normal girl. Her Geta, strange hat and leaf fan would make everyone turn their head in wonder. In modern fashion after the strange moral reformation, such accessories were quite unthinkable.

Aya didn't understand much about modern culture, but Lunaire found it very strange. People seemed to regard the period after Lunaire left as the period of moral degradation. Specifically, it was from 2000 to the beginning of World War III in 2045. The reason that Lunaire found it strange was because moral principles that he dug out from old, original documents said nothing of moral degradation. The issue seemed to be the standard of decency. Apparently, too much skin exposure was a taboo, so miniskirt and bloomer were extremely rare to see nowadays.

Lunaire was fascinated to see the side effect of the world war that decimate world population by two-third, while Aya was quite interested by the change of fashion. Aya made a note to herself to investigate the conservative nature of fashion later after she got the more pressing issues sorted out.

While her mind was occupied with idle thought, she flourished her fan, sending a strong gust into the cave. Unnatural wind laced with magic should suffice as a figurative knock. Since the other party couldn't respond, she waited a little before she continued inside.

Aya wasn't disappointed as she saw a figure in dark brown Yukata trotting to her. Aya smiled slightly even if she couldn't really tell if he saw it.

"Souren-san, I am back and I have a good news for you."

"So you will take her. That will be a thing off my mind."

"She can come and the invitation extends to you too."

"Me?" Aya could barely see, but she could imagine the surprise plastered on his face.

"Yes, think about it. On another note, it is quite dark in here."

"Well, it is a cave and I am a snake so I don't really mind. Sorry."

Tengu chuckled as she rubbed the stone on the ring she wore. After a brief moment, the rustle was heard. Aya fiddled a little with the paper lantern, finding the way to turn the magic lamp on. The warm orange glow from the lantern made Aya sighed, knowing that she succeeded.

"Souren-san, our schedule is a bit tight. Do you mind if my friend join me and take a look at the girl for you?"

"Of course, you brought someone here?"

"Yes, my good friend actually. Reisen, introduce yourself a little." The raven say the approaching red eyes at the edge of the light.

Slowly, the light revealed a figure wearing white clean blouse and blue knee-length skirt. Kujo's eyes widen slightly as he saw the pair of ears dangling on the top of her head.

"A rabbit? I haven't seen one of her kind in a while."

"Reisen Undongein Inaba, A moon rabbit, pleasure to meet you." Reisen stopped at an appropriate distance beside Aya.

"Souren Kujo, an Uwabami, welcome to my humble abode." Kujo smiled disarmingly, while silently chuckled inside at the irony.

A glance was all he needed to see that Reisen was in the same league as Aya and far beyond his. They were strong, even more than the stronger Youkai he met back in the day. The irony was that snake should be the one gobbling up rabbits and birds. Right now, no matter what he did, he would need to tread lightly.

Aya made herself clear earlier that they did not want to tarry, so he brought them straight to the room with Yuki-Onna. Aya's furrowed her brows.

The pale girl looked even paler than Aya remembered. Looking at her, Aya sighed. She had run into Letty a few times, so she knew that Yuki-Onna wasn't supposed to be this thin. The crow could barely felt any chill, characteristic to their kind.

Reisen went to work right away and knelt down near the futon. The rabbit reached out and rustled the futon to find that it wasn't as cold as she expected. Her slender hand emptied the satchel she strapped across her shoulder. The transparent blue vials she got was promptly emptied onto her white Kimono. Waiting for any kind of indication, Reisen repeatedly tapped her finger on her lap.

Kujo who hung back frowned when Reisen uncorked the bottle, but he unconsciously breathed in deep. By instinct, he realized that the air in the room was saturated with mana. Nostalgia filled his heart as it brought him back to the time when mana was abundant. It wasn't a wonder for Kujo to keep breathing deeply like a suffocating man.

The sign that Reisen waited for came. The girl in white trembled as she heaved. Her body curled up and her hand grasped tightly at the fabric covering her chest. A rough round of coughing quickly followed. Before it subsided, her coughs thoroughly worried Kujo. On the other hand, Reisen watched quietly without batting an eyelid.

After a few moments, the girl went silent apart from her soft breathing. However, instead of barely audible whisper, they could hear her steady breathing. A good sign brought thin smile to Reisen's lips.

"Well, I guess it is time for you to pack up." Aya laughed and crossed her arms. Her fan waved ever so slightly, sending comfortable breeze throughout the room.

"Take your time. I am only flying you once, so don't expect us to bring you back here."

"Understood, I will be right with you in a moment."

00000

And there you go. We are in contact with the supernatural side of the world. What will be happening when both supernatural and Mahouka start to move?

I have a question I want to ask though.

 _ **How fast do you want Mahouka side to move and catch on to the organization's activity?**_

Please leave a review. I want to know what you think.


	36. Chapter 36: The Entry

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

This is a great day for me, so I will present this chapter to you. Sorry for the slow pace story, but too bad, it will still continue to be slow. I don't need plot holes, so I will go in slow and solid. Do not take that out of context.

I have a question for you guys.

 _ **Do you think there should be any romance in this story and between whom?**_

00000

 _ **The Next Day**_

The sun way high, but the canopy of leaves shaded the two from the offending light. The forest was quiet and cool.

One figure was leaning on the rough bark of the tree. The small green cap on her head was squished and her hair was slightly disheveled. Her posture was firm without sway.

On the same tree's roots, Lunaire was sitting with his legs stretched. On his lap, a thick book laid open showed pages jammed with foreign language. While the book was held open, being held by his thumbs, his blue eyes weren't.

Soft regular breathing could be heard. They were napping here since late morning, waiting for their guests to arrive. The position of the tree and their angles they were leaning, they could clearly observe if anyone arrived at the clearing in front of them.

Suddenly, Lunaire stirred. Slowly his eyes opened to see teenagers appearing from small blue flashes across the clearing. His hand plunged smoothly into his slacks' pocket. Lunaire glanced at the pocket watch he withdrew and sighed satisfyingly. While they didn't amount to much yet, at least they were on time.

While the children were confused, Lunaire tugged on her sleeves and whispered something. The reaction was immediate. Meiling sprung up straight, making her hat fell to the ground. The magician could only chuckled as he dusted and returned the hat back to its owner, who nodded appreciatively.

Lunaire turned back when the students were getting rather restless in the clearing. A clap of hand with the magic induced tremor shut them up. Most of them should ease up as they were visited at one time since last evening by one of the members of the organization. For what he knew, all went without a hitch. Alice and Marisa proved to be quite good at getting through to these teenagers. After all, they probably knew least about them and didn't have any prejudice. On the other hand, they were rather intimidated by him. While Lunaire didn't exactly do anything to them, he made quite a few remarks that cowed them. Still he made amends by going a bit easy with the talk. The fact that he had to punch a few in the face to calm them down was a secret.

"Good day!" Lunaire yawned and stretched his body that was a little sore. "It's nice that you are on time, so we can start on schedule. You might be wondering what you are here for. Some of you might be told last night, but I will say it anyway. You are here for some basic physical training. Whether you will end up in combat group or not doesn't matter. I at least want everyone in our organization to be able to avoid getting shanked in the back street somewhere." Lunaire chuckled and paused.

Many knew that without weapons, they were quite useless. The public security was good, so the chances of encountering situation like that was rather small. But the point still stood that they couldn't protect themselves from dying a dog's death, so they kept their mouths shut. While there were some with martial arts training and could defend themselves, they also didn't say anything because the point was valid.

"After that you will learn the rules of our organization and then basic equipment train. While I think you need to know the rules as soon as possible, I don't want to tire you too much." More like Lunaire still didn't draft the rule for the organization. "Hey, now you only have the physical to worry about. I am sure you will have enough with just this." He laughed, sending chills up the recruits' spines.

"Oh, so I am training these little ones, right?" Finding her chance, Meiling joined in casually. Her easy-going attitude caused some of the recruits to gawk. Compare to Lunaire in no-nonsense mode, her appearance was almost an abnormality to them in more way than one.

"She is Hong Meiling. Calling her China is fine too." Lunaire shrug.

"Pleasure to meet you, wait! No! Don't call me China. Call me Meiling." The girl in Chinese dress almost let that one slipped, so Lunaire clicked his tongue.

"…Moving on. She will be in charge of whipping you guys into shape. Meiling, you know what to do."

"Alright, the routine we agreed on. After that I can teach my martial arts?" Meiling tilted her head quizzically.

"Yes. Today, training will last till four, so use your time wisely." After tidying the matter with Meiling, he turned to the rest. "Every day, you are expected to be here by six in the afternoon, whether weekdays or weekends. You will train till nine, are we clear?"

He didn't wait for them to answer though as they would probably protest. Sadly, as it was, Lunaire had to intrude upon their private time to get them up to shape as quick as possible. He had many things planned for them, so he needed to get the foundation ready first.

"I have business to take care off, namely get this whole place warded and lit up." Lunaire then pretended to look as if he realized something. His right hand reached out as on ordinary stick was smoothly pulled out of the black rift. "Use this. I said whip them to shape after all. It won't cause injury, only pain. However, don't hit too hard. A tap will suffice."

As soon as he finished, he turned around and left under the glare of many new recruits. They couldn't glare for too long though as they were about to face another trial.

"Okay, start with a slow jog up the hill. Just follow the marked trail and you will arrive back here, 30 laps." Meiling beamed.

"Thirty?!"

"Oh, a mountain like this? How long is this trail anyway?"

"To begin with, where are we?!"

"Yes, yes, quiet down. Just this much is nothing. If you have enough strength to complain, use that to run. I will show you how to use that teleporting pad back after we are done." Meiling tapped the stick in her hand unconsciously like how she normally treated a sword. While unintentional, this caused many recruits to gulp uncomfortably. "Come on. No big deal, I will even run with you, come!" China pointed at the trail, hopping that they were motivated. As a self-motivated martial artist, she didn't quite understand why people don't like to train.

Suddenly, Meiling's body froze as if she came to a sudden realization. She shook a little before staring at them. Meiling thought they didn't trust her as an instructor. She must do something.

"Come on, if you train hard, you can even do this." China said so and let out a casual kick at the tree she leaned on. While it was certainly casual, the result made many shivered as the tree snapped apart. The sound of the upper part crashed down was deafening.

The minds of the recruits blanked. How naïve were they to think that the girl in front of them might be normal? They knew why Lunaire asked her to just tap them. If she was serious, a stick probably would kill them when swung by Meiling. The recruits suddenly felt the urge to start running.

* * *

Kirin sipped her cup of tea. The taste was quite right, so she sighed in contentment. It would be more perfect if she wasn't cooped up in her workshop. She spent too much time in her lab. Even when the shop supposed to be open, she only personally watched the shop during busy hours. At other time, she let her assistant handle it.

It couldn't be helped. The more she probed into the items she received, the more stunned she became. While some investigations weren't fruitful, the ones that did could catapult the research of the casting assistant device by many decades. It was on par with the loop cast system announced by Four Leaves Technology. Perhaps even more, because the improvement would benefit all magician, not just for certain situations. She didn't doubt it. These people were genius, beating the whole world to the punch.

For many weeks, she was engrossed by her investigations. But, unlike today, she usually wouldn't be in the store on Sunday. Instead of lazing about in front of her television, she brought herself from the embrace of her home here to wait.

Before her tea got cold, she was alerted by knocking on her door. She didn't lock the door, but the lights weren't on and the alarm wasn't armed. The only one who would enter regardless in the middle of the day from the front door could only be them. She rushed to open the door.

"Good morning, Kirika-san. I hope you got our notice yesterday."

"Yes, I got it. I seem to be fine with your tests, Alice-san. I am happy." Kirin smiled was crisp as she giggled.

"You should be proud. Even Patchouli said something good about you."

"Is that so? One of your friend I assumed?" The older woman, appearance wise, backed up, letting Alice into the room. Alice walked in with a spring in her steps.

"You will meet her soon enough." Alice crossed her arms behind her back and leaned forward. Her smile was absolutely charming and adorable.

"The letter told me that you will take me to the headquarter. Can you drive?" Kirin tilted her head.

"I don't think so. The way we usually move around is flying. However, since it isn't exactly appropriate in this situation, I will teleport you there." The blond girl relaxed and softly squeezed her shoulders.

"…I…don't know whether I should be surprise that you can fly or not. However, teleportation is something else entirely. Most magic effect can be replicated with pure science in laboratory, but we are nowhere near the point of confidently spatially transferring matter. Now, you are saying that you can teleport? I…" Kirin couldn't bring herself to finish. She sucked in deeply.

It's no doubt that Kirin understood the reason that they were concerned with secrecy. Improving induction stone, flying magic, not to mention teleportation, any one of these achievements would warrant government hunting them down and interrogating them for all they knew. These would make any nation drool. While the world was peaceful now, there was tension hidden beneath the fragile cover. If there were such technologies that would give them such large edge, any world power would be willing to pay any price to obtain it.

Her dread didn't continue for too long as she felt something touching onto her arms. Kirin looked down and saw Alice tugging her arm.

"I finish with setting up the barrier. Hold on to me, so we can get going." Alice beamed cheerfully.

"Ah, yes, ok." Kirin's voice sounded listless from the shock inflicted. Alice said to hold on, but Kirin only grasped at Alice's dress. It wouldn't do at all.

"Excuse me. Hold on tight." As she said so, Alice grabbed on to her arm and drew close.

The next moment, blue glow showered the room and the circle filled with intricate symbols came into being. From Alice's supple lips, incantation flew without pause. Normally, she wouldn't use teleportation because she enjoyed fresh air from flying. Still, it was perfectly within her capability to cast teleportation unassisted. It was worth noting that she had teleporting token tucked into her shirt anyway, but didn't see the need to use it. Replacing the token's power source was a little tedious, so Alice wouldn't use it unless necessary.

There wasn't any time to protest, because the sublime light grew brighter and then abruptly vanished. Nothing were left behind on the spot both stood.

Kirin's eyes spun and her mind turned parched white. She couldn't feel her footing for a moment. It didn't last for too long, because her feet fell on something hard a second later. At that point, her body lurched forward. If not for Alice's firm tug, Kirin would have dip her head into the ground.

"Careful." Alice's voice caused Kirin to be a little spoked when she pulled herself up. Unlike her, Alice was firmly planted on her feet, not swaying in the slightest.

"Thank you." When Kirin was upright, Alice let go and began to walk forward. Her steps weren't hurried and her posture was poised and upright.

Even an older woman couldn't help but be surprise at the atmosphere the girl before her radiated. She didn't look like a high-schooler by any standard. Kirin went through graduate magic engineering school and with her sharp eyes she knew. As a working citizen in the society, she could tell that Alice was confident. Far too confident to not be founded upon accomplishment in life. Realizing this, Kirin was momentarily surprised. Just momentarily, because that was expected from a girl belong to a cadre of geniuses.

Regardless, this place was both surprising and expected for Kirin. It was surprising because Kirin expected the facility housing these geniuses to be more futuristic, not a well-kept traditional mansion in the middle of forest somewhere. Still, the real workshop might be hidden inside, so appearance might not mean everything. However, the old mansion suited Alice's atmosphere very well. Not just her, but Kirin thought that even Lunaire and Marisa also belonged nicely here.

Before even entering the main gate, Kirin felt something different around the mansion. She sniffed cutely. There was something in the air. She felt refreshed, more than expected from the forest.

"You like the air? I like it here too. Outside here is rather suffocating." Alice said without halting her steps.

"The air? Outside?" Kirin blurted out.

"Yes, I am sure even you can tell the difference between the air around this premise and the air outside, right?"

"I think it feels…fresher somehow." Kirin sniffed again. "Both inside and outside the mansion felt the same though. But comparing to the city, it felt completely different, as expected of a mansion inside the forest."

"I think you misunderstood me. By outside, I meant outside the barrier. This whole place is encased by barrier to keep the air saturated with mana and people away."

"Mana? I don't know what that is, but keeping people away? How do you know when people will come?" Kirin inquired as Alice navigated through various corridors.

"We have some surveillance magic, but we don't really know when people will come. The barrier is on all the time, so no matter when, none will stumble upon this place."

"Wow, then you must have a lot of magicians to keep the barrier up. This place is rather large, so how many magicians do you need rotating?" Kirin asked incredulously. Even Ten Master Clans wouldn't do something like hire a lot of magicians to keep their barrier around their home. It was more efficient to hire magicians as guard as they only need at most fifty per shift. To have magicians maintaining barrier around a mansion, thirty people wouldn't last half a day before needing to rest. As wealthy and influential Ten Master Clans were, they wouldn't be so wasteful to hire at least hundred personnel like that.

Kirin gulped. She sweated at the amount of resources available to the organization's disposal. She thought that they couldn't surprise her more, but she was wrong. She began to worry what kind of entity she would be working for.

"No one is maintaining this barrier you know? We bounded the barrier to the keystone, so we don't have to actively cast to keep the barrier going. Only occasionally do we have to renew the keystone."

"What? No one is casting to maintain the barrier?!" Kirin's voice rose through the roof, causing Alice's shoulders to twitch from surprise.

"Yes? Is that strange?" Alice replied, a little concerned.

"It's not just strange, but absurd. Without magician to sustain the effect, magical phenomena could not be sustained. Law of physic will immediately reassert itself. Everyone knows this. The limitation is fundamental and yet, you claimed that you found a way to sustain the effect?"

"Don't ice remain frozen when you finished your spell." Alice tested.

"That is completely different. The spell that ended is heat transfer, so the ice will remain and melt. Are you testing me?" Kirin's breaths were a little ragged. Alice only chuckled.

"I guess you can look that way."

"What?"

"In the store, you were always smiling. I didn't think you were that expressive. Still, I quite like you sisterly aura. It seems that what I said shocked you quite a bit." Alice glanced at Kirin behind her for split second, giving the other woman no chance to see her expression.

"I…well…of course." The word eluded her mind, so Kirin could only muster a few fragments. "I mean…if there is a way to cast magic without magician, it will revolutionize the world as we know it. The magician will no longer be a gear driving…" Kirin's words were cut short.

"Impossible, such day will never come."

"…Why?"

"The advance knowledge of magic can only be realized by equally adept magician. Even if magicians no longer are the gears, they are still the ones manufacturing the pieces anyway. How is that different?" Alice read her fair share of history with Lunaire, so it was expected that some of his darker perspective rubbed off.

"…" Kirin didn't expect the whole conversation to turn sour that quickly, so she could only swallow her words.

"We are here." Alice said monotonously. Seeing an ornate wooden door towering over her, the magician continued without hesitation. Alice held the door open. "Welcome to the Magic Library of Scarlet Devil Mansion. Don't steal anything. The wards Patchouli put up have been tried and tested countless of times against Marisa. While it didn't work too well, it should take care of just about anyone else."

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There you go. I hope you guys are happy with this chapter.

As before, please leave a review. It really motivates me to make more chapter. If you have any request, I will properly request it.

For some reason, I am cold and starving :P


	37. Chapter 37: The Story of the Beginning

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

I am sorry, but I will hurt you guys with this one, so I hope that you guys don't mind.

Please read the author's note at the end as sometimes (like this one), I will have some questions that I want for suggestion.

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All she saw were books, everywhere, on the floors, on the shelves or even in the more bizarre location like the ceilings and midair. It almost made her stop questioning the mind of the creator of the library for putting books somewhere inaccessible.

Book still was not considered a rare sight, but their popularity declined a long time ago. After the invention of the more efficient and eye-friendly display system, the sales of paper book declined. Unless someone prefers to immerse themselves in the sense of nostalgia, their houses won't even have bookcases anymore. Libraries still had some stock of paper books, but they were steadily replaced by scanned electronic version. Therefore, the sigh of so many books in the same place surprised Kirin.

"Surprise." Alice smiled knowingly.

"It is certainly an impressive library. I expected it to be more…"

"Empty, right?"

"Yes. Books aren't exactly the most common sight anymore." When Kirin finished, she turned back, taking the scene.

"I know right. I prefer them in physical form. You will have to grow use to them soon, because your job will require you to be using them. However, that comes later." The blond steps continue, leading them further into the library.

After what must have been the umpteenth turn, came upon a large table. Covered by elegant white cloth, the table looked appropriate to the atmosphere of the library. The books pilled up in many towering stacks, concealing the person sitting behind it. Kirin only noticed a flash of purple.

On her side, Kirin saw the first person after her transfer here. The mansion looked well cared for, but was far too quiet. Finally seeing a soul, the older woman let out a breath she was holding for a few second. She looked over the girl.

The respectable girl who turned around when she heard their steps was very cute. Her eyes darting around made her out to be like an adorable, huggable little animal. Kirin deemed to girl to not be passed her teen, probably around the age of Alice. She was rather developed on certain department though, which almost put hers to shame. The girl was dressed in a plain white dress with embroidered with flowery pattern, which accentuate her innocence.

"You are late." A monotonous voice rang from the other side of the table. The voice seemed austere and uncaring, to the point that made Kirin shivered a little.

"Sorry, it seemed that we took a little too much time chatting." The blond still answered cheerfully, seemingly not caring about the curtness of the other party.

"…Is she the one who had been submitting those reports?"

"Correct, she is Kirika Kirin."

"…Hm." A mumble was heard, but it was soon gone like a passing wind.

The figure behind the table moved a little. While she could make out the other party, Kirin could saw purple hair, covered by a piece of cloth. If Kirin hadn't read one of the older novel, she wouldn't know that it was called mobcap. However, she wondered what kind of taste the other girl had for wearing such thing in this day and age.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"I do not know. Nothing was written in the letter other than that I will be brought here, Mrs.?"

"Call me Patchouli. You will be getting lesson, along with this girl over here." The same disinterested voice rang.

"I will be in your care, Kirika-san. I am Shibata Mizuki, a student of this institution if you could call it that." The black-haired girl stood up and bowed politely. Her lips wore a thin smile. Kirin was a little taken by her golden eyes.

"Likewise, I am Kirika Kirin. Still, a lesson?"

"Yes, about magical material property and usage. It is only at the fundamental stage, so this girl will be attending this lesson with you just to know a few things. As a researcher on materials usage in CAD, you are required to study a little more in depth to be useful."

"While your report was rather enlightening, it would be more helpful of you know the exact nature of the substances and its creation process. While we cannot teach you about CAD, that part needs to be filled out by your own expertise. You will be learning about magic and its interaction with materials from the fundamental level in hope that it will aid with your CAD research. Mizuki is here to broaden her perspective, so don't mind her." Alice explained helpfully.

"Ano, I already attend a class of magical material science in college, so I think I can start without the fundamental." Kirin smile was business-like, a little bit on the stiff side perhaps.

While Kirin didn't have high pride, it was rather shocking for her to suddenly be receiving class, especially from someone half her age from her voice. She expected the group of genius to be on a different level, but she didn't expect a treatment on the term of amateur. To be clear, she didn't have anything against Mizuki.

"You will find much to learn here, because you have absolutely no idea about the existence of mana." The blond girl made Kirin tilted her neck.

"Mana?"

"Yes, the foundation of our magic."

"Did you perhaps mean Psion?"

"Did you sense Psion when we teleported her? No?"

"No…"

"Correct, that magic has nothing to do with Psion as with most magic we perform here. You will be learning about completely different type of magic than what is being taught from your magic university.

"How can you use magic without Psion? That is pretty much fundamental system every magic in this world run on." Kirin's voice rose a pitch.

"Kirika, what you are saying is both ignorant and arrogant. Are you claiming to know everything?" The same monotonous voice rang out as the figure behind the book stacks rose. Kirin could finally see the girl in a pale lilac nightwear.

"Magic traditionally does not involve with Psion in the first place. It existed well before the existence of modern magic. To clarify, this is not the ancient magic in your sense, but the true ancient magic. The magic that revolves around the manipulation of mana, the fundamental power that nurtured the Earth itself." Alice explained, knowing that Patchouli couldn't be bothered to explain any further.

"Alice, you are telling me that there is another system that the world didn't know about, a whole new system. Do you realize what you are saying?"

"I believe what I am trying to convey perfectly coincided with the meaning of my words." The blond girl was patient. She expected the adult to act like this after receiving such a news that would topple their whole paradigm.

"If a whole new system is there, then the world should know it then. Why hasn't anyone come out and announce it?"

"It is the secret of the world, Kirika-san." The one who answered it was, unexpectedly, Mizuki.

"What do you mean?"

"This type of magic existed since ancient time, hidden away and practiced by few. Sadly, because it was well protected and other circumstances, it was all forgotten and treated as fantasy story by the world, along with other beings." Mizuki muttered solemnly.

"Beings? What are you talking about?" Kirin felt as if her head spun. There was far too much information she had to take in and too little time.

"Perhaps we should start from the very beginning. Patchouli, can you spare us a little time. You don't have anything else after this anyway, so starting a lesson a little bit late should be alright with you." The blond turned to Patchouli and smile apologetically.

"Fine." The girl said so flatly and dropped down on her seat. Patchouli simply went silent, ignoring her surrounding and starting to read. Alice smile wryly, knowing that her tight-lipped friend will be silent for a long while.

"I hope you don't mind to, Mizuki."

"It is fine, Alice-san. I am in a mood for some story time as well." Mizuki smiled sweetly, making Alice wanting to hug her.

When she first arrived, she was just a little over ten, so Alice naturally treated her like a child. Even when Mizuki finally grew into proper lady, Alice still couldn't help but treat her like a little sister. This applied to all of people in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Even Sakuya adored her as she watched Mizuki grew.

"Let's take a seat first, shall we?" Alice said teasingly and swiped her hand. The two chairs beside Mizuki's floated and rearrange, making a little circle facing inward. She sat down, waiting for Kirin to follow.

Kirin frowned and after a conflicting moment with herself, proceed to her own chair.

"You have many questions. I am sure, but keep on listening. Some part of this story is just a conjecture, but it is a pretty well founded theory explaining many things that we considered a fact today." Kirin only nodded to that.

"I believe that there was an author that said the oldest and strongest kind of emotion is fear. The oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of unknown. It is a very fitting quote, because it is truly the beginning of everything." The mysterious smile on Alice's lips betrayed a hint of very seasoned entertainer.

"…" Kirika was silently, but her eyes were wide. Perhaps the woman still liked her story.

"The fear of unknown and curiosity. These two conflicting emotions gave birth to many things. Don't you agree? The current technological progress is the product of curiosity and the mankind quest to illuminate the unknown. What many did not know is that as a sentient life, mankind had a pull in the flow of mana."

"You are over dramatizing it. There is no evidence that mana existed before the dawn of humanity or came into being because of humanity."

"Aww, Patchouli, do you have to ruin the story?"

"Just a fact."

"Very well, Patchouli is right. It is a situation like chicken and egg. We don't know if mana precedes humanity or humanity was the one creating mana. However, one fact is true that humanity was the beginning of many others. So, Kirika-san, if you are to give some more concrete subject to associate with unknown, what do you think they will be?"

"…Um, I am not really sure. A classic answer might be the future."

"A very nice answer, humanity never really know about what will come in the future. Some welcome it, while some fear it. I have another really nice answer for it, Darkness. In the night or unlit caves, mankind wonders what terror it contained. With all the unknown, do you think it is strange for humanity to come to believe that there is something else in the world, something different, beyond their comprehension, sometimes friendly, sometimes malevolent. The monsters in the night, the gods of nature, magic to defy destiny, it was undoubtable that mankind had made them up and believed in them, yes?"

Perhaps it was because of the atmosphere or the way Alice was telling the story, both audiences were unblinkingly enraptured. Even Mizuki who had here this story many time still couldn't help but be swept away. Patchouli could not careless, while admitting that Alice certainly was good with entertaining arts.

"The belief, in other word faith is the beginning. In making up and believing, mankind as a collective unconsciously invoked the greatest faith-based spell ever. While it is not technically a spell with incantation or traditions, its power was unquestionable. It is possibly the only magic exclusive to mankind, because of their sentience, but more importantly their number. Millions upon millions of water drops can form an ocean, agreed? Mankind has been invoking this wondrous magic since time immemorial. Yes, including you two."

"What?"

"Aha, please keep on listening, Alice is getting to the good part." Mizuki still wore her sweet smile, not minding the interruption.

"So, what is the effect of this magic, the very will of humanity? The answer to that is the creation of fantasy. The fear led them to believe in being beyond their powers, while curiosity led them to pursue the art in unlocking the world secrets. Yes, monster, gods and magic. By their very belief and fear, mankind directed mana and gave birth to many fantastical creatures and arts."

"…" Kirin opened her mouth, trying to say something, but was silenced by Mizuki's gesture.

"Throughout the ages, magic and monsters thrived together. Mankind could never understand nature, so never had the chance to disprove their fears and beliefs. Upon many years and years of reinforcement, the existence of magic and monsters were forever cemented into the existence of Earth. Until one day, mankind began to discover the nature at an alarming rate. I believe that many called it the Scientific Revolution. It was then when the mankind started to grew away from their fantasy. While the true details of fantasy were not understood by many, most still somehow believed in it, continuing its existence. No longer."

Alice leaned forward, grinning contently at the face of the girls in front of her. Patchouli stayed silent and didn't interrupt. However, she still half-heartedly listened, just in case Alice got some of the facts wrong.

"Do you still remember while mankind can invoke their faith-based magic? Their sentience allowed them to ever so slightly influence the flow of mana and their number allowed the effect to manifest. From that point on, their number exploded. On the other hand, they no longer believe in fantasy. With the growing number of humans believing that, the fantastical side of the world rapidly deteriorated. The mysterious races that used to walk the Earth dwindled to nothing and even the flow of mana, the ley line dried out like river."

At this point, Kirin frowned in disbelief. It was not every day that she listened to an outlandish tale as this. However, she felt it hard to argue for some reason. Unknown to her at the moment, Alice used her weak hypnotic magic to mellow Kirin's mind out a little. Mizuki noticed this, but didn't say anything, because Alice didn't exactly mean any harm. Normal people would just flip the table and start to think that Alice was crazy, so a little magic to ease things up couldn't hurt.

"Gods, vampire, Youkai started to disappear from the world as the very source of their existence, the mana was dried out. Since they had their own power and sentience, mankind can never really will them away like they never existed. However, with their disbelief in fantasy and common sense, the fantasy side was starved out of their nourishment, mana. The weaker races died out, while the stronger ones slumbered. Only the strongest ones had the power to resist the flow of the world. Gods belong to a special case as their very existences, as powerful as they were, hang on faith that no longer given to them."

At this point, Alice glanced toward the stacks of books and silently stare. It was sensitive information, so she wanted to confirm once again. Only when Alice saw the small nod from Patchouli did she continued. Alice sighed from the tension as she turned back to the two.

"Mizuki, you have heard this story up to this very point. However, there is a piece missing. You probably are old enough, so I will tell you the missing piece in this story."

"Alice-san? There is another part to this story. I think that this is about at the very end?" While Mizuki tried not to look dejected that Alice was hiding this story from her, she still was very excited that they were finally telling her the whole story that her eyes were sparkling.

"Yes, the story of the land we call home, the story of the Eastern Wonderland, Gensokyo…"

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Cut and take that cliffhanger. I hope you like it.

Please leave a review as it encourages me to work harder. Also, for the mean time please answer the question that I left last time.

 _ **Do you think there should be any romance in this story and between whom?**_


	38. Chapter 38: The Inner Workings

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

As a thank for a lot of reviews last chapter, I will be giving you this chapter early.

Hey guys I will be addressing some discrepancy in this chapter in term of chronology. First, event of Touhou game were a little bit later than original. This was because I don't want Marisa to already be too old as Mahouka was a little less than a century faster than the original Touhou time, so please allow me to take creative liberty.

Also, unlike in Touhou, to become a magician as a race, you require more than just abandon food spell and learning other magic.

Also, if you want to see Alice convincing Kirin of the cause, can it because I am not writing the same thing the third time in different way.

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"It all began in Meiji 18 or in Gregorian Calendar, CE 1885. The world became so scientific that normal Youkai would have trouble existing, so the Great Hakurei Barrier was constructed. It was first started by human, but was reinforced further by Youkai, notably Yakumo Yukari. The barrier has been overseen by member of Hakurei family ever since. The barrier functions as a barrier of common sense, isolating a portion of Japanese land from the outside world, with the tendency to accept something that common sense dictates to be non-existence or unaccepted. This marked the birth of Gensokyo, a wonderland that defies almost every common sense of the modern world, and the first season in Youkai Lunisolar Calendar."

At this point found it unbearably hard to not grin at Mizuki whose eyes widen in wonder. Ever since they had met, Mizuki was curious. While the era she was born in did not shy away from the concept of magic, the existence of Youkai was still considered unscientific. Finding a few members still alive was something very improbable, especially to survive from such encounter. Therefore, Mizuki was taken to learning magic and the supernatural like fish in the water.

"To answer your long overdue question, Mizuki, we are all from this close of fantasy world of Gensokyo. It was there that the fantasy thrives and where we were from. Marisa and I were born there, while the rest was originally form this side."

Mizuki was on the edge of her seat, while Kirin's eyes were unreadable. The impact for her was either too huge or she began to think that Alice was the type to ignore reality. Apparently, Chuunibyou was still a thing in Japan 2095.

"That was it really. I didn't really care much about the history of Gensokyo. I have read the Gensokyo chronicles, but didn't pay attention to it."

"What? That's it." The word disappointed would be enough to describe Mizuki as she slumped in her seat.

"That is pretty much it. Gensokyo is a land closed off by barrier. Inaccessible to the outside, except for one location that for some reason did not work anymore. Do you want to take a guess, Mizuki? You have seen it once." Alice pat herself in the back for failing to make the existence of Gensokyo interesting, but still managed to direct the attention away.

"I have seen…Hakurei Shrine?"

"Indeed, it is the place existing on both sides of the barrier simultaneously. However, it didn't function anymore. We tried it back three years earlier, before we met you."

"So, you came in through the shrine? Then what about the mansion." Mizuki questioned.

"That is the problem. We didn't come here to this side intentionally. I believe Lunaire was saying that the people in this mansion were minding their businesses. On that day, Marisa and I came here to pick up something I asked for Lunaire. Then out of blue, we were here without knowing why."

"That's it? Is there anything more, like how you were living in Gensokyo?"

"That is the story for another time. If you want to know more about the history, I suggest you ask Patchouli. We should have a copy of Gensokyo chronicle. This library should have a copy of any literature in Gensokyo minus our newspaper."

"Aww." Mizuki groaned. She almost forgot that this story was taking in the time for the lesson.

"Oh, my bad. I forgot what I was telling this story for. In short, there is another branch of magic and even another side of the world that you didn't know exist. Any question?"

"I…wow…I just didn't know what to say." Kirin was unresponsive.

"Take you time to digest it. Patchouli wouldn't mind if it was even a few minutes later." Alice said offhandedly. The bookworm responded with only a silent snort.

"Assume that what you said is true…"

"It is the truth." Alice interjected cheekily.

"…what you said it true, then what is it that you want? Do not play dumb. If you just want to research, then you won't start to make a move around like this."

"Hmm, it is not like we are trying to do too much though. Since we are trapped here, our only choice is to live here and keep researching, right?"

"Still, that still can't be all. Call it just gut feeling."

"Even between women, our intuition is still quite dreadful. Fine, you win. We try not to keep anything away from our organization anyway. Having secret leaked and the organization self-destructing on us are probably the last things I want happening."

"…"

"Mizuki had already heard this, so you should ask her. We are deferring our lesson for a little bit too long. I will let you have taste of the benefit before letting you decide. See you later." The blond girl sprung to her feet and made a tactical retreat. While Alice definitely saw that Kirin was trying to say something, she just left.

* * *

The stone was rather good at bouncing the sound around, so he could hear a visitor from miles away. To expedite the process, Lunaire just waved his hand and the door flung open. Glancing through the door way, he caught a flash of blond locks of hair.

"Alice, how did it go?"

"I don't know, but I somehow stunned her."

"With the story or with magic?"

"A little bit of both, but if you ask my intuition, then I think she is bough."

"Great news then?" Lunaire closed his eyes and squeezed his temple.

"I believe so." Alice took a seat next to him. "What are you working on."

"Oh, I am just drafting the rules. Since there are more people coming in, we need some ground rules for the organization. When our circle is small, we don't really need it." Lunaire paused, slightly hesitating. "Still wording is a little bit hard. Sometimes it came out to hard or just down right tyrannical. At other times, it just sound so childish and too simple. I am not sure what would work. It didn't help that I have never lead a large group of people before."

"I am still waiting."

"Ahh, fine. Please help me, Alice-sama."

"That's more like it. Still, it is not like I am good with leading, you know?"

"Better than nothing. You who know how to put on a good show will do. I can't exactly ask Remi and Sakuya or I will end up with an overlord code after all." Lunaire laughed self-depreciatingly.

"I guess that they will make it that way." Alice glanced down at the paper filled with scribble and then at Lunaire's face. "On the side note, you don't look to good. What happened?"

The silver-haired magician paused a little. He looked up and smile ruefully. "Oh, it was that obvious. I just feel a little dirty."

"In what sense?" The blond asked neutrally without a shred of mockery.

"I mean I just return from concluding a deal in black market, not just any deal, but for military grade weapons and ordinances. I feel like terrorists that I despise."

Hearing that, Alice seemed to want to say something, but was stopped by simple gesture from Lunaire. Perhaps stunned would be more appropriate, because that simple gesture was a flick to her forehead.

"Fool, do you think that this is enough to faze me. I live for a long time. So, don't worry. I know who I am and I don't stray. Both of us are magicians, so you should know." Lunaire leaned back on his seat.

"Yes, I know." She smiled knowingly, reaching for a spare quill in the drawer.

"Ah…Sometimes, I feel that you are trying to lead me in circle." Lunaire only chuckled. There are times when he felt that Alice seemed to know everything. Like this time, despite knowing, she made him say it out anyway.

"We are both magicians, so we both know. You know, I know."

It should be obvious that certain mentality was require for one to rise to the rank of magician race. That was the reason that there was more than enough common ground for them to understand each other in most case. Therefore, Lunaire's complaint was rather bias.

The next few hours were spent fruitfully. They took turn reading the rules out loud as per Alice suggestion. Before long, the code of conduct for the organization was up. They disagreed quite a bit on the punishment section, however, Lunaire let her remained as she was still another member of the executive.

Formally, the members of the Scarlet Devil Mansion are part of the executive body of the organization and wielded equal power. There was no threat of being backstabbed and a Danmaku match sufficed to settle any dispute. Therefore, most should be present, but it seemed that no one really cared. Patchouli handed him only the bottom line, the right to expulse them from the area if they somehow disturbed her. Lunaire could only laugh at that. As I member of highest executive member, she could do that anyway. However, restricted areas should be defined beforehand.

While Alice and Lunaire we at it, they also laid the groundwork for the organization. The sage council is the top, followed by the Department. The department will be divided into section. While there were not enough bodies to fill the position yet, four department existed. Research & Development and Education & Liaison Departments both had some members. Logistic department had Sakuya as the head. Operative department was created on standby. While Alice was apprehensive about creating a department specially for armed force, Alice had to concede the Lunaire vehement argument. Armed force was required, especially to contain the after effect of their plan to elevate mana level.

They also got the ranks worked out. While position should correspond to the level of authority, it would be best to subdivide it better. While using military ranks for private armed force is a little bit pretentious, but it might be for the best. At first, they wanted to use color scale, but calling their commanding officer Orange might be rather counterproductive, but humorous. The color system was instead used for their more civil position from low red to violet, divided into 10 levels each. The sage will technically be iridescent rank and excluded from the system.

Over the span of few hours, Alice get a cram of many fine prints in running an organization. She even had to grudgingly learn about the darker side of the organization, because she once proclaimed that she wanted learn about reality. Lunaire gave it to her as she wished without hiding anything. He knew better than to conceal anything as deceit is the best seat for broken friendship. As a side note, they intend to move to the cleaner side of the society as soon as they could find a firmer ground to stand on.

* * *

Kirin was torn inside. She was thankful for Alice to let her get a taste of the benefit before giving her an idea about their plan. It certainly gave her a full picture of the situation, but it made it harder for her to choose.

While Kirin certainly wouldn't join any terrorist, but the fact that their cause wasn't completely evil weighted on her mind. Their offer was very tempting, perhaps too tempting. She didn't earn her degree to be CAD technician just because the pay was good, but because she was very interested in them.

All the magic materials and their probably opened a new realm in front of her. Although she still didn't have complete idea of how magic in their sense work, with many new materials that never were produced outside this organization before in the play, the possibility was limitless.

The decision was made still that she would remain in the organization. Kirin acknowledged that people could die from her hand. No, she knew that someone would die for certain as they executed their plan. However, they did promise that they will do their best to contain the fall out. As a CAD expert, she had a chance to make a difference. Although it was not a definite, she still intended to cling to that as her solace. Perhaps, she will get used to that in time.

On the side note, Kirin thought that Patchouli was either a block of ice or an unreadable book. As apprehensive as Kirin was, she couldn't help but label her that way. It was rude to her teacher, but that was just pure impression talking.

"Captain Tsukasa…I am out." One girl who was sprawled out on the ground groaned. While it wasn't in school, Mibu couldn't help but still address him as the captain of the club she joined.

"Urg…me too, but we somehow made it. Also, my surname changed to Kamono."

"…"

"I even wonder how they did it, but my mother divorced my step-father so quickly." His voice was disconnected, but the point he tried to convey was still valid.

For some reason, their conversation continued in the mist of heap of corpses. They weren't exactly dead, but close. Meiling was, in contrast to her rather cute appearance, a perfect drill sergeant. Perhaps, she was even a better sergeant than the ones in the movies.

The running was horrible. The drills were horrible. While they though that learning, techniques should be a little lighter, that was horrible too. They had to pull everything they had from their reserve energy for the next week perhaps. Still, they had to do this daily from now on, so their suffering was just beginning.

00000

And there you go. I think that the reveal for Gensokyo was a little bit lackluster, but what can I do. I don't really want to exaggerate that too much to be melodramatic.

Oh by the way, the scene with Alice was just a taste of what I could do (which is not very good), but still did not confirm that there would be romance. For sure that even if there is romance, it won't be the stupid one like hormones driven couple.

What do you think about this chapter? I don't know if it is good. Please leave a review.


	39. Chapter 39: Magic Reactor

Hello, ITalkToSky Here.

It's long time no see, but please do not kill me. I have something I must do in real life.

Also, sorry to one of the guy who messaged me. I said I would have this up by last weekend, but I was kind of burnt out by then. It is a week late…so, sorry? I seemed to also hit the writer block. However, the show must go on. I have a goal for the story, so I am not exactly going in blind. You don't have to worry about this spiraling down.

I scrapped this chapter so many times T_T

However, I will tell you right now that this fic will probably focus less and less and Mahouka and more on Touhou side. There will be more character introduced, but that is for later.

00000

 _ **A few days later**_

"So, the device is ready?"

"I would like to think so." Lunaire scratched his head, slightly self-conscious.

"It doesn't look like anything other than a piece of rock though." Characteristically, Remilia cheekily said.

"After all, the point is that any normal people won't randomly pick it up."

"Sure enough, even I won't randomly pick that thing up." Marisa laughed and pointed at the object in the middle of the table.

Seeing, Lunaire grimacing, the maid standing to the side smiled wryly. Sakuya personally didn't have any preference toward the object. As long as it worked, she wouldn't care. While it was definitely inelegant, especially in the middle of the dining table, it would be place somewhere she wouldn't see, so it was alright.

The object was described rightly so by Remilia as a rock. While it bore a little similarity with the keystone that Tenshi always slung around, there wasn't any piece of rope on it. The stone looked as if it was roughly chipped from larger piece of stone into something that looked like a tear drop. The purpose was simply for it to be able to be staked to the ground.

In contrast to its humorously ugly appearance of an unpolished stone, its inside was quite a valuable piece of equipment. From the trial-and-tested infamous tool of collateral destruction came the tool that was actually useful, but still might cause collateral destruction anyway. The device inside the stone was a derivative of Marisa's mini-Hakero, engineered to process energy from a source and safely release it into the environment. Basically, Lunaire simply created a Hakero as a furnace it was supposed to be and not magic particle cannon.

The device was named, Magic reactor. While certainly not the most creative name, it served its purpose. The device would act like a furnace, burning a fuel source to heat the house. The inside would house a potent source of mana, which would be tapped into and gradually dispensed into the atmosphere. However, there is a problem.

"You want us to contribute a spellcard?" Aya's voice rose a pitch as if she thought her ears were playing tricks with her.

"Yes, for the energy source, I figured the spellcard would be the best. After so many uses, they bathed in mana more than anything in this world several times over. Even the type of spellcard shouldn't even matter anymore. While the power of the spellcard itself will affect the performance, we can simply prioritize where to put the stronger ones." Lunaire yawned a little.

"No, no, that is not the problem here. Do you know that while we can make many of them as we like, it takes time and energy? Especially with an environment that we can barely breath, we don't have much to spare to do something as taxing as manufacturing spellcards, you know?" The crow raised her voice.

"Still, there is no choice. This is the only thing we have. While we have magic crystals and materials, they will run dry way too quickly and not anywhere near enough to saturate the air with magic." The silver-haired magician was not backing down, appearing slightly distressed.

Lunaire knew very well that this decision would be opposed quite strongly. Many years living with it, parting with spellcards was as unbearable to him as it was to them. In order to, avoid this conclusion, Patchouli and Lunaire searched through everything in their possession to serve the purpose and be sustainable in long run.

They looked through materials and found them inadequate or far too precious to be used as mere battery. The most promising were magic mushrooms and seeds in Marisa's possession, which somehow still lasted until then in a leather satchel. However, thinking that through, even Patchouli thought it wasn't a wise idea to introduce a foreign species to a forest. Not only that it might now grow properly, if the local spotted it, then it would all be for naught. As expected, no one wouldn't be suspicious if a species of unknown, glowing mushrooms started to show up.

"There must be another way." Reisen mediated diplomatically.

"I would love to say that there is, but right now, we can't find one. We all know that we have trouble breathing in the air with no magic, so we started looking for solution since the beginning. Even after this many years, we still haven't found it. But, we can't wait any longer." Seeing, Lunaire's frustration, Reisen only fell silent.

Everyone in the mansion didn't have the necessary knowledge to solve the problem. Everyone had their own expertise and dealing with low level atmospheric mana was not in any of their scopes. They did have their library with extensive collection, but even with multiples pairs of eyes looking through it, no easy solution was found.

In the end, the magicians concluded that the only way forward was through brute force. With organic magic sources like magic mushrooms out of the equation, the only choice remained was through the furnaces. The solution was elegantly simple as the device simply drew the mana from the reservoir and dispensed it in a controlled manner. They even had the mean to power it, but they needed everyone's cooperation.

"…" Remilia sat quietly, probably too quietly for her usual self. Her crimson eyes flicked from one side of the table to another.

Inside, Remilia didn't care about the issue at all. While she spent a little over century in Gensokyo, she wasn't all that attracted to spellcard. It was fun and thus very welcomed. However, in a dog eats dog world, declaring your attacks with flowery effects would only take you to one place, hell. Actually, it might be the Higan. Remilia smiled thinly, realizing that her perception was warped during her time in Gensokyo. Nonetheless, it wasn't quite enough to make Remilia to think of fighting as all games. Certainly, she might have tendency to toy with her prey a little, but she would still agree that spellcards were both wasteful and idiotic to use in the outside world. It was a perspective she built up by staining her hands red before coming to Gensokyo, so it was quite impossible to drop.

"It's not like we need spellcards now anyway. Our skills are our own. We are not in Gensokyo now, why bother?" Closing one of her crimson eyes, the cute voice left her lips.

"Play time is over, so to speak." Lunaire added. It should be over from the time they arrived, but they each accepted it to different degree.

At this mention, Aya and Reisen could only give in. They were not green, so they knew when to give up. There were things in the world that would not go their way and they must accept that.

Glancing and seeing that they went silent, Lunaire nodded slowly.

"Now that everyone is on the same page, let's move on to the next problem. Whether this is hard topic or not is up to you." Lunaire cleared his throat. "As you already know, youkai in this world are still very much alive. They are dwindling in number, but still exist. I said that twice, because considering that they are all starving for mana, you can probably imagine what would happen if these…reactors were to be spread around."

"Everyone will be fighting for it." Reisen said grimly. While they already talked about it before, it still wasn't anything to be joyful about.

"Yes, but not exactly. To prevent anyone from simply pick it up and running off with it, Patchouli and I crammed it full of concealment magic. While it was quite hard to conceal an object that literally radiates mana, our spells will at least confuse most who try to find it. Only the more exceptional youkai can see through that." Lunaire poked his hand at one of the stones. "Instead of the scramble for these, most would only find areas unnaturally rich with mana."

"A turf war." Three short words pried their way out of Patchouli's lips. It was very economical. Lunaire jokingly wondered if she was saving up her words to one day unleashed it upon a hapless fool. He wouldn't want to be the receiving end of that.

"Precisely. It would be quite a bloodbath too, if the reaction of our new residents was anything to go by. According to them, our mansion has the most abundant mana level compared to any place in Japan. While these reactors won't produce any amount close to what we emitted freely here, it was still quite substantial. I am sure that even the reactor with weaker spellcard will sure to draw attention." Lunaire paused and gestured to Alice, who gently nodded.

One of the side door flung open as some sort of board floated in. While normally Lunaire would be puzzled to see a random board flying in, but since he discussed it prior, he took it quite well. If one took a good look, they could see two small figures lugging the corners of the board.

Shanghai was looking as happy and cheerful as she usually was. It was rather impressive that Alice even managed to allow so much expressions to be displayed on inanimate doll. Sometimes, Lunaire even wondered whether Shanghai was sentient or not. Alice was working toward that goal and said that she wasn't there, but the fact Shanghai could take extensive independent action showed that she was quite close. Independent action wasn't anything special, but the fact that Shanghai sometimes tap his forehead and shoulders when he looked stress made him fawned and unable to treat it as anything other than a person.

On the other hand, Hourai was a floating ice cube. Her eyes were empty. She simply did the job of bringing out board and hang it on the magic string beside Lunaire. Fast and efficient, almost as if Hourai doll was an embodiment of Patchouli.

Back to the topic, the board has a map of Japan pinned onto it. Littered throughout, various areas were pegged with colored thumb tacks. Red and white tacks were the most prolific and could be seen around every part of Japan. On the contrary, blue tacks can only be seen around a location marked with large cross. Around the blue tacks, circle was drawn clearly with markers.

"Here, you can see these tacks." Lunaire was satisfied to see everyone paying attention, except Patchouli. "White tacks are the locations where we could expand our reactor network to. These are not of importance right now as we are not in the position to bother. I don't like to bite more than I can chew."

"The red and blue are important. Red ones signify the hiding places of youkai and whatever remnant of magic society Japan has." Alice filled in the explanation. "This is only to the knowledge of Souren-san. It might be outdated and inaccurate, but it should be better than nothing. Our cursory survey didn't manage to find them the first time around."

"It is quite useful, considering a part of our plan. However, we should look at the blue tacks and circles. These 7 tacks are the location for our first batch of reactors. We will use it at full power and these overlapping circles are our area of effect." Lunaire added plainly.

"Seemed to covered our mansion quite nicely. It doesn't appear to intrude on the border of the nearby city either." Reisen muttered, satisfied.

"Isn't it quite small. Our turf should be larger than that." The vampire grumbled as Lunaire expected.

"If it is any larger, we won't be able to protect it properly. The problem that I talk about is protection." Lunaire closed one of his eyes and shrugged. "There are seven initial spots where each of us have to contribute 1 card each to be fair. However, after it is up and running, we need someone to keep the…trespassers out. We don't want anyone setting shops without permission."

"Oh…now that is something that I like to hear." A smirk plastered Remilia's childish face. With one look, no one could see her as a child anymore as the being was living up to her name as the Scarlet Devil.

"I have something more you might want to hear."

"Pray tell."

"Since Alice, Marisa and I won't be available with the schools and all, well…" Lunaire snickered. "They are all yours, but don't be too rough on them, okay."

"That is quite a tough request. You know I like to play a little…"

"…" The bitter smile on his lips was enough to indicate that Lunaire gave up on this issue long ago. It might be a good stress relieve for Remilia's bottled stress too. He just hoped that whatever she would do wouldn't affect their option of playing diplomacy with other youkai down the line.

"Are we really doing this? Can't we just continue with our research and try to find the way back into Gensokyo? We are taking a lot of risks." The pacifist rabbit offered her two cents.

"…We already talked about this…The Great Hakurei Barrier is failing. It was meant to last a long time, but it wasn't eternal. Even Yukari, with all her broken power, can't keep repairing it forever. For our fantasy to continue, we need to do something on the other side." Alice bit her lips.

The magicians convened quite often to answer numerous questions bothering them after they arrived. The topic wasn't only about the fact that they couldn't return, but also other concerns of the supernatural side of the world. During many discussion and field testing, they came up with the consensus that Great Hakurei Barrier wouldn't last much longer. At most, Yukari could hold it for another century before it would rupture.

That was the reason that Lunaire chose to adopt the plan to resurrect the supernatural side of the world. If there wasn't any pressing concern, he and everyone here would probably be content to sit the next century out figuring the way to return. However, the time was not on their side.

"Even I would hate to see Gensokyo dropping here without preparation. There would be a lot of trouble if that happen." Marisa gulped down her saliva, but still felt that her mouth was a bit dry. From dinner till that moment, she was staring down at her table. It was as Lunaire expected. A kind-hearted girl like her would never truly be used to the cruelty of the world. Perhaps, that was for the best.

00000

 _ **This should be the last of info-dump for now, so the plot will be moving next chapter.**_

I will try to upload more frequently, but this depends on the problem IRL too. Still, thanks for reading this fic even though I feel that the quality of the writing dropped quite a bit since the beginning. However, I can only hope to make it better from now on as I hate rewrite.

Please leave a review as it really encourages me.


	40. Chapter 40: The Competition Approaches

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Long time no see. As promise, I will continue with the plot for this story

00000

 _ **Three months later**_

She didn't understand. Miyuki was convinced that Lunaire and Alice were anything but ordinary. If the suspicion from her brother didn't sway her, a personal call from her dearest aunt confirmed it. Only a person of greatest importance would warrant an attention from their family head to the point of ordering observation.

Miyuki, of course, complied. While she felt a little guilty observing her classmate like this, it was not as if she was that close to Lunaire or Alice. Still, even after resigning herself to the task, she couldn't find anything useful.

There was no need to mention that both Miyuki and Tatsuya did not go as far as to stalk them home. As far as they could tell, Lunaire and Alice were a cut above others and that made them highly suspicious.

With the magical ability that Miyuki would struggle to match, their abysmal theoretical grade created a large dissonance. One may assume that they might be born that way, with better magic, but poorer intelligence. However, on very rare occasions, they both were capable of deep academic and philosophical discourse to anyone with the mind to listen. They were definitely not idiots.

The other possible explanation was that they were not paying attention in class. It was likely as it could be seen, to the dismay of the teachers, that they did not care about their lesson. While it was subtle, teachers and some slightly keener students could notice that they were not engaging in the lesson as sometimes their eyes wandered. There were only two possible explanations. Either they did not care to learn or had already learned everything taught. The first was unlikely, given the scholarly air they carried.

Both Tatsuya and Miyuki agreed on the second, but could not fathom to what extent. Many faculties in the school seemed to agree as they had seen many times that these two were confronted of tanking their grades. However, it was not as if the teachers could interrogate their students whether they knew the material or not. In fact, there was nothing they could do about them. With the ability to warrant the treatment of cream of the crop, teachers were quite powerless on how to deal with the two.

The fact that Lunaire and Alice were not being completely honest were already enough of an evidence that they were more than what met the eyes. Still, everything they were able to uncover was only superficial. More than Miyuki was willing to admit, it was getting quite irritating. Even with the lead, they couldn't pin anything about them down. Everything about them screamed guilty, but there was no concrete proof.

For the past few months that they had been observing him, apart from tanking their grades, both Alice and Lunaire were completely normal. They didn't have strange routine or anything. At this point, she was almost giving up, until a certain day made her reconsidered.

* * *

 _ **Later on that day**_

Miyuki was thinking bitterly that she must have looked creepy, observing their classmates like this. It was not as if anyone noticed, but still, she couldn't help but think so.

Lunaire was sitting in front of her diagonally, made it slightly easier to observe him, unlike Alice who was behind her. Everything was quite normal, until a flash of surprise seemed to cross his face. Miyuki was not sure if it was just a trick of light, but she was fairly certain from the fact that his rather dull eyes seemed to sparkle alive as he looked around the room.

Something must have caught his attention, nothing strange considering his habit to daydream in class. That certain something was…the window?

She could see nothing outside and it couldn't have been anything on the ground floor as Lunaire was not in the position to be able to see down. She almost dismissed this as overthinking, but Lunaire was staring at it for longer than normal. Miyuki saw Alice now looking in that direction too.

Miyuki wondered if this gesture had any cryptic meaning behind it. She could say that she was around 90 percent sure that something was amiss as both Lunaire and Alice were acting strange throughout that class until the end of the day.

"Oh?" A voice leaked out from his lips. Fortunately, it was not heard by anyone, even the girl who had been annoyingly keeping tabs on them for the past week.

The source of his surprise was the window, more specifically, sitting on the open window. If not for the fact that he was sensitive to presence, he would have missed it. Meanwhile, the subject herself didn't notice his stare.

Unnoticed by all but him was a tiny girl, clad in silken dress. She features indicated that she was quite young, probably not beyond her tenth year. Clinging unsteadily on the window pane, she hesitatingly peeked in. Finally, it seemed that she lost her footing and fell into the classroom. Normally Lunaire would have panicked, but on the back of the palm size girl was a tiny iridescent pair of insect wings.

Leaving the cuteness induced fuzziness, Lunaire was quite happy with the result. After installing the reactors around, there were far little impact that he had initially expected. These reactors should be like shining beacons in the night for anything spiritually aware, so he wasn't expecting the last few months to be so peaceful. By now, there should be various bigshot youkai fighting to claim such rich territories, but so far there was none. Contrary, there were only insignificant fries trespassing. For that he was thankful, because the newbies finally had their chance at hunting.

Seeing that the appearance of the truly native fairy of the land brought fulfillment to his heart. Lunaire was rather relieved that these beacons were doing its job. In the area around the beacon, small fairies became a common sight. While the normal human wouldn't be capable of seeing them, for the more spiritually aware, they were the sight for sore eyes. Their existence indicated the restoration of magic power to the land. However, he wasn't expecting to see one this far away from their stronghold.

While he was contemplating silently, the palm-sized girl unsteadily flew onto his desk. She tilted her head and leaned from side to side, inspecting him curiously. The fairy looked at him like he was a rare animal and was completely unaware of the attention she was receiving. Apparently, this fairy didn't think that he could see her. With forlorn look on her face, she tried to wave to get his attention. She seemed to be aware enough that normal people wouldn't be able to see her, but she called out anyway.

It was typical for the fairies to be childish and highly social. Normally, they grouped up and generally entertained themselves. They usually do not call out to human, unless they found a particular one to be very interesting. This fairy is probably lonely, as he couldn't sense any other nearby.

"Hello, little one." Telepathically, he answered, terribly surprising the fairy in the process.

"Wah!" After being visibly jumped, her wings fluttered open, ready to fly away. A slight flick propelled her to take cover behind the monitor on his desk.

"Oh sorry, did I scared you?" He smiled at the tiny figure, looking owlishly at him.

"You have nothing to be afraid of, so you can come out." Lunaire concluded that this particular fairy still was incapable of speech. She was still quite young after all. While fairies do no possess the concept of age as they pretty much symbolized nature, there were still those newly formed. With low magic power in the nature, the capability of the fairies in these areas was undoubtable limited.

Still as if she instinctively understands his language, the fairy tentatively walked out. Her wide eyes look up at him.

"Yes, it is me talking. Pardon the use of telepathy."

"…" The little girl tilted her head, earning a silent chuckle from Lunaire.

"Alice, look." He looked briefly at Alice, while mentally nudging her.

He was very grateful that the fairy appeared at the moment she did. It really made the insufferable classroom a little bit more bearable. Alice and Lunaire spent the rest of their time till lunch trying to converse with the fairy, who seemed to be very taken to them. Much to Alice chagrin, the little fairy seemed to slightly prefer sitting on Lunaire shoulders than hers.

* * *

After the school ended, Miyuki, Lunaire and Alice were called to Club Management Headquarter as the candidates for the Nine School Competition. Since they were all going the same way, Miyuki invited them to walk with her.

She and probably the rest of Course 1 noticed how Alice and Lunaire were very quiet. They never seemed to talk to each other, except in the cafeteria with other people like Tatsuya and Erika. At other times, like in classes or in the hallways, they never uttered more than a few words to each other, which was considerably unusual, considering how much time they spent beside each other. Every in Class A, or even the whole Course 1, gave them a wide margin, assuming that they were couple.

It wasn't exactly unfounded either. They always were seen together as if they were attached at their hips. They usually never talked, but seemed to cast knowing glances at each other very often. Sometimes, one of them would smile and another would follow suit. It was as if they could tell what either one of them thought at a glance. No one ever approached them about the topic, of course, as the evidences were quite damning. Seeing such display, Miyuki felt a little envious to see someone understanding another so completely that obviated the use of words.

As such, they spent an absolutely silent walk to the headquarter, until Alice decided to talk about the selection of the competing members. It was a redundant topic as none of them would be left out in the selection. If they didn't take the top three students in term of magic power to a magic competition, this school needed a change in administration. Still, Miyuki appreciated the attempt to lower the awkwardness.

* * *

It was long before they reached their destination and the selection meeting begun. It was quite a strange experience for both Alice and Lunaire as they were only invited in only to listen to announcement that they got a place. On the other hand, Miyuki was feeling quite pleasant to be in the meeting where she could show off the splendor of her brother by having him selected as an engineer. The rest of the time should be spent debating about the lower ranked members. While there were members who obviously were going to make the roster, there were still some competing for the last few slots. After that was finished, everyone would separate on their ways. At least that was how it was supposed to be. Until…

"Lunaire Meister and Alice Magatroid, there is no doubt that you two will be joining us. The next is…" The heavy toned voice of Juumonji chairman resounded with power as always.

"Chairman, do we have to?"

"Shiba, you too are…pardon me?" From the abrupt response, many were surprised to finally see the perpetually stoic chairman did a double take.

"As I said, chairman, do we have to?" Unexpectedly, such nonsense came from Lunaire.

The pause that ensued was as if Juumonji had taken an uppercut out of blue. The expression on Juumonji was quite priceless as he couldn't seem to decide whether to be surprised or offended.

"…In what sense, do you ask?" Juumonji resigned for a more ambiguous question.

"…I am asking if it is mandatory for me to participate in the competition."

"It is not mandatory per say…but you should join in as one of our most talented first years. Besides, the school gives a lot of benefits to the participants…" Characteristically, Mayumi tried to mediate as the student council president, while being surprised inwardly as she didn't expect Lunaire to be this abrasive.

On hind sight, Lunaire also found himself to be quite abrasive at the time, presumably due to stressful day. While his new little friend proved to be quite effective at relieving his stress, but it still was hard to cure the cumulative fatigue.

"Then I request to pass on this. I am not really into this." Lunaire waved his hand side to side disarmingly.

"What are you saying, Lunaire-kun." The only person to attach -kun to his name in situation like this could only be Mayumi.

"…Do you realize what you just said?" The deep voice became more pressuring. Lunaire could see how a tone like this could force a lesser man to submission, as expected of an heir to one of the Ten Master Clans. However, it was not as if such meager degree of intimidation would work on either him or Alice. After all, no matter how intimidating another party may be, in Gensokyo, Danmaku slugfest was the only universal language. On that note, Sake and a cup of team came close.

"I am well aware of what I just said. I said that I have no interest in joining and am willing to abstain of the benefit of doing so. This decision is made after being informed of all the details involved." Unperturbed, Lunaire responded.

It was as if someone dropped a bomb in the room. Not only could this be taken as a display of arrogance, it could also be seen as a defiance Juumonji himself.

"Let's go Alice. Staying any further would be spoiling their day." After declaring their stance, it would be best to simply leave, until he heard a vigorous bang on the wooden table. Lunaire turned and glanced, finding that the source was just a bigot. In Lunaire mind, this upperclassman, Hattori Hanzo, already earned his place in his personal shit-list since their first encounter.

"Are you thinking that this whole competition is a joke. Our school pride hangs on this and you dare to speak nonsense in a time like this?" His read face and ragged breathing belied his anger, which didn't disturb Lunaire in the slightest.

"Oh no, no, no. I am well aware of the gravity of the situation. That's why I am resigning." Most of the people in the room were unable to tell if Lunaire was mocking them or being sincere.

"We admit that We are not willing to commit fully to this competition, so rather than half-heartedly participate, isn't it better to let someone who can bring their very best to bear." At Alice's mention, the hostility in the room was toned down marginally.

However, most still glared intensely at the pair. Their existences provoked the ire of many people. While Lunaire and Alice tried to act neutral and detached from most of their rather immature peers, for many, it came of as pure arrogance. There were, of course, some that genuinely admired them, especially those who had the courage to initiate the conversation. However, most kept their distance and pursued their own line of conjecture. It wasn't long before some of the minority retorted to cursing at them under their breath. Not that the two cared, of course.

"Then leave." Like a resolute judge, the chairman's voice hammered in the background, silencing everyone in the process.

"Thank you. If you will excuse us…" Alice said and bowed politely along with Lunaire. They quietly turned toward the door and was about to leave.

"Wait! Lunaire-kun, Alice-chan, can you at least tell us why?" It was worthy of note that Mayumi's upturn eyes and pleading tone were quite potent as weapons.

"…" For the next few moments, no words escaped the two's lips. It seemed as if the movement of the two completely ceased as they stood still before the door.

At last, Lunaire seemed to turned his face slightly to Alice, which she reciprocated. As if resigned about something, he let out a heavy sight before looking back straight. The scene made everyone present thought that there was a silent conversation going on between the two.

After what seemed like an eternity, Alice turned her face sideway to look at the president. Mayumi could only see half of her face. A glance was all Mayumi needed to see that there was definite sadness painted on it. Alice lips opened and closed, as if some words were desperate to spill out. The blond magician repeated between squeezing and parting her lips.

"It's…a personal reason. That's it." A fragile melancholy was filtered into a few words.

"Let's go, Alice. Our time here seems to have ended."

"Um." The blond agreed as their footsteps resounded throughout the quiet room.

"Then can you give us the performance that you normally show in school." Juumonji broached. His voice still sounded heavy, but soften considerably after understanding that the pair didn't act out of line due to arrogance.

At such mention, the pair paused briefly, because Alice answered.

"Is that fine? We could not hope to half-heartedly commit, while the rest put forth their all."

"It is of no concern. I am expected you two to join because of the performance that you showed throughout the year. It is in my expectation for you not to give me any more or less than what I have seen. Even if you are capable of more, as long as you don't fail the standard you showed here, then I will turn a blind eye."

"…I assume that we don't have the time to think this through."

"Unfortunately, the roster must be finally at the end of this meeting. Essentially…make your choice now." Juumonji presented the ultimatum.

"…Alice?" The silver-haired magician glanced at his shorter counterpart.

"…"

"…Very well." The short two words were the signals that dispersed the tension in the room as the two magicians quietly made their way back to their spots.

"If that is all, then…"

* * *

It seemed as if the pair did not have anything else to say throughout the meeting. The meeting concluded was quite eventful, with Tatsuya demonstrating his technician prowess. Another good thing that happened was that Hattori finally grew as a human being, to a certain degree. Lunaire hoped.

Still, it wasn't as if Lunaire and Alice just stood there as observers. Unheard by anyone, they were conversing mentally in the safe confine of their thoughts.

"Nice acting Alice."

"You, too. Well, I still think that what we did might not be the wisest idea ever."

"Maybe not the best, but certainly not bad. Everyone was suspecting us to some degree already, so throwing some red herring for them might prove to be very beneficial."

"Yes, yes, we talked about that. They will think that we hide our ability to not be found by someone, so anything that happened might be linked to us, but we won't be seen as accomplice."

"Oh, so you did listen?"

"What do you mean!" Alice quipped with the strong urge to pinch his side.

00000

And there you go.

An extra-long chapter that totally didn't make up for the missing time. As always, if you have something to say, please leave a review, because that really motivates me to write more.

As promised, I moved on to the more main part of Mahouka. However, be warned, as some time along the line, there will be an original ark, dedicated to deal with the more magical side of the world. We can't exactly leave the snake and Yuki-Onna untouched now, can we?


	41. Chapter 41: First Aerial Magicians I

Hello, ITalkToSky here

Since a month has passed in the story, I might as well show how the recruits are doing. I admit that there is some element of Youjo Senki in there, as in the flight organization. However, a lot of them is my original though. I am not a military guru, but so are the people on the Touhou side.

A lot of people might be irked out by the fact that I am bringing the modern arms into a magic fiction. However, you have to understand that you cannot make normal people as OP as Touhou character by just teaching them in months. I want functional unit for the organization and this is it.

They actually surpassed the standard of the military in Mahouka world by many leaps. They can dogfight and perform proper ground attack using flight-capable magicians. I noticed in both the novel and anime that the flying magicians (using Tatsuya flying CAD) were quite incapable of performing aerial maneuver AKA dropping like flies from APC autocannon fire.

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"This is the first squadron, approaching the objective." In the warm pleasant wind of the night, a feminine voice rang through the communicator.

"Roger that first squadron. The command squadron had landed nearby and is finishing scan over the objective area. Use the tree line to cover your presence."

"Understood, lowering altitude now." As she said so, she made small gesture to her squadron.

"Good luck Mibu. You will need it."

"You too, Tsukasa-captain." Mibu's habit from the Kendo club couldn't be killed off completely.

"It is Kamono now."

Before long, her six-man-squadron took refuge among the branches of the trees. They surveyed around both visually and magically and were relieved to find themselves alone. There was a caveat though, because they could still see the brilliant light of the city in the distance.

"Leader, I still can't believe we are flying like this."

"A bit too late for that don't you think. We went through the whole training and all." Mibu answered as she idlily inspect her weapons. Pulling a katana from its sheath on her shoulder, she was satisfied as the cold gleam greeted her.

"If you still feel that flying is a new thing, get the hell off this flight." One of the members joined in.

"I don't want to hear this from you, dork." After this remark, the whole squadron devolved into a friendly banter.

* * *

It was a happy thing that for all the inhuman torture of training, it certainly did instill the sense of camaraderie. That and the skills to fight armed or otherwise. The basic knowledge of magic was also hammered in. By that point, any doubt about Lunaire's story was completely extinguished. Surprisingly, it was still the basic training. From around thirty, only eighteen remained to continue for further combat training. The rest that couldn't further endure the grueling menu were herded for education for the rear duty.

Still, Mibu had to give it to them. As much as she suspected that there would be disparity in the status between the main combat and rear units, the jobs were relatively equally demanding and rewarding in different ways. While some may complain that main combat units faced more risk, which was inarguably true, the more civil units would be able to contribute significantly. By significantly, it didn't mean low-end jobs of cooking and cleaning, but more as a technician and scholars.

This meant that not many were ridiculed for quitting. Lunaire made it very clear that each man was suited for different job.

Still, both for the eighteen of them or the rest, they didn't have it any easier. The ones marked for the education were hammered with information. Mibu heard from some of them that it was very interesting, but the strain combined with their days in the first high was quite crushing. As for her and the other brave seventeen men and women, they went through spec ops training…triple plus.

Their physical training menu crossed from the realm of extreme to superhuman, courtesy of Meiling. At that point, everything practically required magic enhancement that they did well to learn. While sprinting and parkouring at high speed might be possible for some normal human, jumping up a 5-meter ledge was not. Magic didn't make this a cake walk either as they still could feel that for every exercise, they were shaving of portion of the lives, little bit at a time.

For marksmanship, all the new recruits, especially in the rear line, dubbed the training god-tier. Any recruits were trained to have good accuracy up to 100 meters from stable ground while prone, sitting or standing. The combat units were drilled to be able to shoot from any position, upside down or anything in between, up to half-kilometer. While that range didn't sound too impressive, the trainees were expected near perfect accuracy within that range, even with assault rifle. Of course, magic was permitted, but it was quite difficult. As if that wasn't enough, when they managed to painstakingly mastered such skill, they were put through a variety of stress training.

By stress trainings, those meant performing such feat when they were running or having their bodies were being thrown around in the air comically. The trainees questioned why would anyone be able to shoot from such position. The answer was that they were trained to perform as aerial units.

For the first time in their lives, they were liberated from the bound of gravity and were free to soar the sky. However, with less restriction came more possibility for different kind of extreme training. Mibu remembered that she almost suffered from hypoxia many times and experienced more free-falling than she could count over the span of months. Some high-G maneuvers made her laugh at her old self for complaining over minor nausea.

To put it kindly, the training menu made her appreciate the possibility of human bodies. She was willing to let the memory rest with that statement.

On the questionably bright side, she ended up commanding the first squadron.

* * *

The organization system was devised by the sage council. As there were no military in the world capable of fielding flying magician forces before, they had to create one from scratch. Using the organization system of aviation group on human magicians was also quite unfitting.

Squadron consisted of 6 members. Each squadron could be divided into 2-man flights. Currently, there were 3 squadrons combined into 1 group. For most operation, a group would be assigned at the minimum.

The first and the second squadrons were the active combat units. In each squadron, there would be 1 leader, 3 riflemen, 1 technician and 1 marksman. The leader and riflemen would be carrying assault rifle, while technician would carry light machine gun. A marksman was armed with sniper rifle.

Over the century, the shape of firearms didn't change too much, so they used the common model used by many military around the world. The unique point was their ammunition. Normal round would do little against magician foes, so they used rounds specially blessed, not in the sense to purify evil, but in the sense, that increased their meaning and substance. As most supernatural beings are conceptual being, a bullet must have enough meaning to be able to inflict notable harm. More specialties rounds would be announced later, but this was the only one available to Mibu.

The command squadron was in charge of directing the two other squadrons in the operation zone. It was also a six-man squad with only 2 riflemen and 1 marksman as security details. The rest were commanders and radar technicians. While these men didn't know the mumbo-jumbo behind these detection devices that were apparently capable of detecting magical signature, they were capable of using the information gathered to issue well-informed command to ones in the field. That was all that mattered. Usually they would move with other squadrons, but land somewhere outside the objective zone to provide long-range recon.

* * *

"First squadron, proceed to west of the target area. Second squadron to the southeast." Mibu heard the chatter from across the radio.

"Confirmed, hugging the trees." Her squadron followed the order and arrived quickly and quietly, like the usual training.

"Pick you targets. You have ten seconds." Kamono ordered both squadrons.

"Roger. Single shot, pick you targets now!" Mibu gestured, but still said the instruction vocally anyway due to habit.

"You heard the lady."

"When the first shot is fired, all except the marksman and one, advance to contact."

"I will hang back and watch his rear end this time, boss." Her subordinate sounded quite enthusiastic for the easy job.

"On my mark."

In the next few seconds, everyone had their target on the scope. To put it simply, it was an assortment of small youkai. Not all had high power scope of a sniper, but with their magic, they could manage the shot well within their perfect accuracy range just fine. On the side note, Mibu aimed at the floating eyeball.

"Fire." Hearing the order from radio, Mibu ordered, while squeezing the trigger softly. The muffled gunshots, courtesy of the suppressors, rang throughout the forest. Before long, most men observed that they target crumble to dust.

"Target hit."

"Now move!" Mibu bellowed.

Disappointingly, the situation unfolded pretty simply with them annihilating the offending youkai. Apparently, they were trespassing on the area where the reactors were placed. Since they were small fries, there was no use reasoning with them. While small fries usually should not pose a problem, this particular group was of a man-eating type. Rather than risking them spilling over to the nearby city, it was best to eliminate them first.

Still Mibu came a long way, calling such engagement disappointing. From a girl who couldn't handle a gun, she now could annihilate youkai with ease months later. Normally, having an easy fight was something she could rejoice on, but now, she was ironically disappointed.

* * *

After cleaning out the rest with the help of the second, they beelined back to meet up with command. When they touched down, they met an unexpected sight. Floating in the air eerily was the girl in pale pink dress and a mob cab. They remembered her glowing vivid red eyes very well.

"Remilia-sama, what is the matter?" Kamono asked gingerly.

Keeping on the safe side as for all the time they spent here, most recruits still weren't used to the vampire. The amount of contact they had was very limited.

"Good evening to you. There is no need to be too tense."

"Ah, well, good evening…What brings the sage herself here?"

"Ah, stop it will you with the title of the sage. Just call me Remilia. I have good news for you."

"…and what would that be."

"You group will be assign to hunt something bigger this time. I am sure you are bored with all the small game you have been hunting for the past few days." While Remilia was softly smiling, for some reason, the rest of the ones present felt terrified.

"Something bigger…" Hesitation could be heard as his body seemed to shrink a little.

As soon as she saw that, Remilia descended rapidly in front of him. The former Kendo club captain could only stand frozen. The vampire thin hands reached out and grabbed his shoulder and waist. She pushed his shoulders back and tug his hunched back in.

"Come on, show courage. You went through those trainings. You all will do just fine. For the note, if anything were to happen, Meiling and I will be around to help. I make sure that she won't be sleeping on duty this time." Remilia laughed sweetly. "While some of you might end up hurt, you won't be permanently debilitated or die. I promise you in my name." She stepped back and place her hand over her chest.

Kamono Kinoe, the overall commander of the group, wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified. On the bright side, no one will die. On the darker side, the healing capability of the organization was frankly approaching the realm of miracle. While this was a good thing, this meant that the threshold of disabling injury was quite high. In short, some of them might have most their bones broken. They could recover from that, so Remilia might not save them from that, but it would be hell to experience.

"…Order received…"

"That's more like it." Remilia smiled brightly and elegantly lifted off the ground. "I will look forward to a good show. It is northwest from here. Don't take too long, I think you all still have school tomorrow."

After she left, everyone relaxed the muscle they didn't know were tense before. The ensuing sight and swallowing were unanimous. The trauma from their first run-in with Remilia in the Blanche HQ was quite deep and there wasn't much chance for them to remedied it.

* * *

It went very smoothly before the engagement. Command squadron landed and easily founded the target. Apparently, it contained quite a large magic signature, setting it apart from the rest they had dealt with so far.

While it wasn't as powerful as many of the residents of the mansion, the trainees could clearly feel the sense of fear and malice that permeated the area. It was the same feeling as if they were being stared down by a viper. They remembered it well from their first run in with Remilia, but this time it felt dirtier.

The uncertainty also brought a new degree of terror. While they were trained, and educated very well, for someone of their age, it would be a stretch to request them to discipline their fear.

The first and second squadrons surrounded the target area according to their well-practiced drill before starting to search for target.

* * *

"1 O'clock, behind the rock. It looks like human…" The marksman called out, prompting Mibu to leveled her binocular in the direction. "Definitely not human, not that I can feel."

"Humanoid then." Mibu still couldn't bring the youkai into sight.

"You think that is the target?"

"I see it. Marksman, you are looking at a girl, right? That is probably our mark."

"Yeah, but damn…Normally I should be thinking how smoking hot she is, but for some reason I am only feeling chilled."

On her binocular, Mibu could clearly see a woman in her early thirty, nauseatingly beautiful. She was clad in orange and yellow tone Kimono. She would admit that seeing a woman dressed like this in the middle of the forest could scare the hell out of someone. That was when not accounting for her smile that seemed to dripped venom even when there was no one around. Mibu silently thanked her fortune as the woman still didn't seem to notice them.

"Command squadron, we have sight of the target. A female youkai, I can't make out her species. However, she doesn't feel friendly." Mibu tapped the crystal earpiece and spoke.

"Confirmed, second squadron also got the visual. What is it doing?" The question made her peer back into her binocular.

"I don't know. She seemed to be wandering around and…amused."

"Amused? Explain."

"She is just smiling."

"Damn it. I don't want to do this even when we have so little information, but we are running out of time." Kinoe was reluctant to continue, but there was no choice. He knew that they would have to face a real trial. He prayed silently that his decision wouldn't end to well. As much as he didn't like to admit it, they were still amateurs. "All combat squadron, set up an overwatch and prepare to assault the target. We will send out one warning with our echoing orb."

"Roger that."

00000

And cut…

The next chapter will be up shortly, probably within today or tomorrow.

As always, please leave a review if you have any suggestion or word of encouragement.


	42. Chapter 42: First Aerial Magicians II

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Here is you double release. While I said that I will go on with the nine school competition arc, I still can't help but give you something about the trainee. They need some screen time too, right?

While you might think that they might just be mooks, but I don't want to drag it on for too long. Therefore, I only focused on Mibu.

00000

"Marksman, crosshair on target. Fire on my command." Mibu wasn't too used to ordering people under her around, but her voice still had the hammering quality worthy of respect.

"Understood."

"You, take the machinegun into the sky and cover us when the shot is fired. You, go with him."

"Okey-doke"

"Roger."

"You are my wingman. We charge them.

"I got the short end of the stick this time, didn't I."

"No complaining. Check you weapon." While Mibu didn't take their comment to seriously, she still maintained the sense of urgency and was a little high on adrenaline.

"Ready." Everyone answered in whisper.

"Wait! She is moving. I can't get the shot from here."

"Did she see us?" The leader's shoulders shook.

"No, probably just strolling."

"We will move somewhere else. I will keep visual contact. You all go ahead." At the order, the marksman sprung up from his shooting position before tugging his rifle close to his chest.

* * *

"You are trespassing on the ground of our organization. Leave now or we will eliminate you by force." A voice echoed in the surrounding of the offending youkai.

Echoing orb is like a long-range megaphone. It was quite controversial whether to give warning to the enemy at the cost of initiative, but the council decided that the measure was required to prevent souring relationship with other supernatural entity. This would prevent killing more benign youkai and also from someone claiming that the organization unjustly killed one of their kin.

"What! Who are you? Show yourself!" The woman was spooked out of her sense of security.

"I repeat. You are trespassing on the ground of our organization. Leave now or we will eliminate you by force. This is your last warning. If you intend to leave peacefully, turn back to where you came from…"

"Oh my, how cold. You sure you don't want to show yourself and have some fun." The woman spun around, trying to find the source of the voice in vain. The voice didn't originate from one source, but appeared to be from every direction all at once.

He waited for a little, before the leaders of other squadrons reported no intention of retreating by the other party. At this point, he fulfilled all the requirements.

"Commander to all squadron, permission to fire granted. Eliminate the target."

* * *

"Fire, now!"

"I still don't have the shot."

"What?!" Because Mibu and her wingman were left behind to keep visual contact with the target, she didn't have the clear grasp on her other 4 members that relocated to find better position.

"We are still in the middle of relocating."

"There is no time. Forget the cover. Marksman flight, just fly up and take the shot." Her order was in vain as the marksman of her squadron already had lost the initiative. Mibu heard the shot from the marksman from the other squadron. "Machine gunner, follow the plan. You, on me." As she finished, she flew in a burst of speed, skillfully hugging the tree line toward the clearing.

The typical hunting plan involves opening snipping by both squadrons' marksmen, simultaneously on the same target. The aim should be the center of mass as most youkai might be able to evade a shot aimed at the smaller head. However, since the second squadron already had fired, the first squadron's marksmen lost his first shot initiative. Worst, he still didn't have his position. Rather than wasting time finding cover at this point, Mibu ordered the marksman with the machine gunner to take to the sky to make him still a viable snipping asset in the fight. This was, by no means, ideal as the marksman would no longer have the stable firing platform and could potentially be exposed to attack with no cover midair.

At this point, Mibu and her wingman made a beeline toward the target under the continuous covering fire of the machineguns and sniper rifles. In a few seconds, she already had the woman in her sight, but only for a moment. A pale while projectile was heading their way at high speed.

"Evade!" She bellowed while rolling out of the way of the projectile. Luckily, she didn't suffer from any injury, while her wingman only bumped his arm against the tree trunk.

"Return fire." Even without her saying so, her wingman knew his job and started retaliating with a few burst from his assault rifle.

The female command took a glance behind her to see the nature of the projectile that impacted the branch. The wet substance clung sickeningly to the tree it hit. While its texture glistened like slime, Mibu could make out a fibrous white structure.

"A spider web, Tsuchigumo. To all squadron, the target is confirmed to be using spider web. There is a high chance that it is a Tsuchigumo. Beware of illusion. Do not let your guard down."

"Received."

Mibu thought that it was going well. They learned more about the enemy without sacrificing too much. As a cherry on top, she learned about it before getting within its arm reach distance. Approaching expecting the enemy to have only four limbs, while they actually had eight might not end too well.

Mibu saw the other squadron and made a gesture to circle around the target, harassing the target on all side. They all fired in short bursts that seemed to slow and hurt the spider woman to a considerable degree. Someone even had the audacity to say, "if it bleeds, we can kill it."

As rounds began to impact the rapidly moving target, the creature started to reveal its form. Eight yellow and black striped legs ripped through her back, chilling everyone to their bone. She used to look like a little eerie woman on a stroll. Now, she just looked plain monstrous.

Mibu thought that they could start whittling the creature down, little by little, until the first sign of things going awry reared its ugly head.

* * *

"Fuck, machine gunner, check you damn fire! Why are you shooting at me!" Mibu heard on of her wingman cursed into the earpiece communicator.

"Argh, what the fuck? Do we have an idiot as a sniper?!" The conversation didn't quite register with her, until she felt something awfully heavy struck her shield, sending sparks flickering into the night.

Friendly fire, the last possible thing that she thought could happen. It was impossible for those crack shots to be this terrible at shooting.

"Wait, did that spider multiplied?" Mibu remember the confused voice of her marksman very well.

"Second squadron, call off you fire support and bring the machinegun team into the fight. They are probably under illusion of some kind."

"Yeah, I guessed that. MG team, join in the fray. There is only one target. I repeat, there is only one target. If you can see multiple, do not engage. Those are illusions." The second squadron leader yelled out to his own squadron members as Mibu did to hers.

Minutes into the fight, all their plan crumbled. Sniper fire support was unavailable and the machine gunner had to retort to hip firing up close. While circling the prey in the air and peppering it kind of worked, the speed of the spiders and its silk shot proved to be quite detrimental to the effort.

"We can't hit it like this. I will pin it down. Support me!" Mibu pulled and swapped the half-emptied magazine with a fresh one. However, instead of continuing, she slung her rifle on her back and pulled out her katana.

It was quite a suicidal idea for such inexperience swordsman to face down a youkai at close quarter, considering the number of limps available at the spider's disposal. However, their training allowed for them to used their katana to deflect blow in the case they needed to get close and box the enemy in. Their primary weapon would be their pistol with more powerful enchanted bullet. The idea of engaging in an epic slugfest with only sword was beaten out of the trainees early in their training.

Still, getting close was very risky, so they were trained to be quite good with their swords. However, most didn't have the confident to execute them, apart from in dire situation.

Mibu dropped down to the ground, unnoticed by the Tsuchigumo that was distracted by barrage of gunfire. She stopped to let of a few aimed shots from her pistol. One might ask how useful can a pistol can be when even a sniper rifle couldn't finish the creature during the opening. However, such doubt would be silenced as the youkai's movement stuttered and its green fluid leaked. The woman turned her who were leaking body fluid everywhere turned to Mibu, stunning her in horror for a few seconds. Before it managed to exploit the momentary pause, the hail of blessed lead rained on it, allowing the girl to recover. Or so she thought…

It might be because of the smoke from their unrelenting assault or simply them letting their guard down, the spider managed to slip closer to the members closer to the ground. This naturally meant Mibu and the wingman that stuck close to her.

There was nothing on her mind at that moment. It was pure blankness. The only thing moving her limb was her instinct that made her sword intercepted the spider's razor sharp legs. To her credit, she even simultaneously pointed and pumped at few lead into its abdomen in the process.

However, the same could not be said for her wingman, who still had his rifle up. While his passive shield might be able to protect him, Mibu couldn't bring herself to cling on to it and hope. The only thing she thought was that the friend beside her would be skewered and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Red.

A flash of red was what she could remember. The next moment, all she saw was the body of her wingman flying.

She was angry. She didn't even know at what, but she knew that she moved. In a smooth graceful move of a hunter, she lashed out, lodging her blade in its heart. Mibu stared straight at its face.

For all its injury, Mibu could still make out the outline of a human. On then, did she regained herself. Still, she didn't remain sentimental for too long, before kicking its body to dislodge her blade.

"Purify it!" She bellowed before rushing toward the downed wingman.

Unexpectedly, instead of rushing to help the comrade, they immediately threw satchels of purifying charms at the collapsed body of the Tsuchigumo. As if on cue, the charms flashed eerily blue, before fading away. They were weak instant charm, but it made sure that the downed enemy wouldn't stand up to bite them again.

"You! Hang in there!"

"Ouch, leader, I fine."

"How are you fine?!"

"I am not hit."

"What?!"

"Oh? You are finally awake. I am wondering how long will you keep on playing possum." The same high pitch pompous voice rang from above them. In response, the poor wingman seemed to cough more violently.

Mibu looked up and saw both Remilia and Meiling floating leasurely above the air. Her brows furrowed. She thought that they might have done something. Her kinetic vision was by no mean bad, but she still couldn't see through their speed even if she tried.

"Don't look at me like that. We saved him, be grateful. Still, to make me step in like this was a little disappointing."

"…" Everyone involved went silent, even the command squadron that was listening in from distant location.

"Well, even if he did take the hit, he probably wouldn't die from it. So, I guess it is passable. Get back to the mansion and then you are done for the day." Still, no one moved. "The rush wore off it seemed. How was the first taste of battle? The unpredictability, the chaos, sweetness of victory and the bitterness of loss, it would be wise to get used to it." Remilia huffed softly and she spun around. "I believe hot meal and warm bath at the mansion will do you some good." While she was a little disappointed, she was polite enough not to take it out on them.

In the cozy reading table, deep within the library, the two magicians conversed over a cup of tea. Oddly, their eyes were focusing on the books each of them had open before them.

"This won't do."

"What won't do?"

"We need more firepower. I kind of expected this of my first version of low power enchantment, but it was like peashooters down there."

"You can't call that unexpected Lunaire. You tried to make those bullets cheaply. Not that I don't see the merit of being able to mass produce many of them." Patchouli paused. "At the same time, the efficiency will be low, using more for less return and higher risk."

"Yeah, I made a mistake."

"The one you can undoubtable correct."

"Gee, thank you for your vote of confidence." Lunaire took a sip from his tea.

"…"

* * *

The silence was broken with a resounding bang. Instead of the hand recoiling from pain, the wardrobe door now sported a small dent. The clenched fist drew back, preparing to strike again, but stopped after a pause. It wouldn't do for her to ruin a good wardrobe just to vent.

The young woman in the bathrobe exhaled violently and flung herself onto her fluffy bed. The darkness in the room served well to dampen her mind, which kept racing back to the fight she experienced today.

It was at time like these that she felt very thankful for the warm light soup that Sakuya cooked up for them. It wasn't too long since she returned from the mansion, so she still felt the warmth in her stomach. Lying on a familiar bed like this, she felt her sense lull and her eyes started to close.

Nonetheless, until the moment her mind shuts off, the moment kept replaying in her mind, her blades, its razor shape limps and her comrades, over and over. Terror might be an apt description for her feeling, but it wasn't toward the enemy.

It was the day she killed. She knew technically that she exterminated many youkai before this, but the spider looked vaguely humanoid and sentient. It was also the day she almost lost her wingman, akin to a brother. They shared meal and suffering and she couldn't help but blame herself for being unable to protect him when it mattered.

The time before the dreamless night claimed her was a long one for Mibu Sayaka tonight.

* * *

 _ **Somewhere else…**_

"Flying-type magic…sustained gravity-control type magic has been completed." Miyuki ecstatic voice could be heard throughout their house.

As if it was some sort of cosmic irony, on the same night that one was sullen from her first fight, another was in bliss from learning how to fly.

00000

And there you go.

Please leave a review if you have anything to suggest or general words of encouragement.


	43. Chapter 43: The Day Before Departure

Hello, ITalkToSky

Surprise! My engine is still running hot. I am strangely free lately (procrastinating), so I might be able to put out more chapter.

I am sorry about my irregular schedule. I feel that I am not reliable enough to pledge a regular upload, so I will just upload at my leisure. Enjoy this burst while it last :P

 _ **A question for you**_

 _ **What competition do you want Lunaire and Alice in?**_

You can give me an answer, so I can take that in to consideration. However, this is not a vote, so I might or might not take the idea, depending on how the story turned out.

00000

 _ **A few days later, Colors Ceremony, backstage**_

"Why the long face, Kirihara-senpai?" A cheerful voice called out.

"Oh you, Lunaire, was it? You made quite a scene during the selection process." The grumpy senior recognized the strand of unusual silver and instantly made the connection.

"You were paying attention. After I was done, I kind of zoned out."

"Nobody was as carefree as you. I heard from some of the underclassman that you spent you days with your head up in the cloud."

"I found the need to scowl at everything to be overrated. You get old quicker. Maybe you should try to smile more."

"Leave me alone. I was born with this face." Takeaki laughed, prompting Lunaire to follow as he found a seat opposite of him.

Lunaire had heard of this senior during the club recruitment week. Mibu told him that Takeaki picked a fight with her during a demonstration and was put down miserably by Tatsuya. Lunaire wondered what kind of idiot would use a lethal magic against a schoolmate. Frankly, Lunaire wouldn't be able to make the connection between that and the boy in front of him when they met the first time. Sure, he had a somewhat intense personality, but probably not unstable. Overall, Lunaire didn't find him particularly pleasant or obnoxious.

Takeaki stared down at the wooden floor of the backstage, while Lunaire gaze drifted around the equipment hanging from the ceiling.

"What do you think about this?"

"About what?"

"You know what I am talking about."

"I am a chronic airhead." The silver-haired magician chuckled.

"Alright, I will bite. What do you think about having Tatsuya on board?"

"Weren't you the guinea pig and vouched for him?"

"You…guinea pig is a bit much."

"I don't mince word." Lunaire paused and decided to probe a bit further. "Still, I thought you would be against the idea of having Tatsuya in the team."

"I wouldn't want to let the chairman take the hit if anything happens." Takeaki lapsed into a short silence. "Also, both chairman and Tatsuya spared me from being expulsed."

Lunaire was applauding in his mind. At least he had enough grace enough not to hold grudge. Still it made him curious as to why he did something as reckless as picking a fight with a girl like that. It was a simple war of words, but an actual physical fight. He presumed that the culture of dueling with action not words was not common in the outside world, so there must be a reason.

"Respectable."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Nothing in particular, if he does the job right or even better, let him do the job."

"I see. Short and concise." Takeaki waved his hand

"Well, I just hope that other won't find too much trouble with him."

"What do you mean?" A perplexed expression crossed his face as he heard from Lunaire.

"Tatsuya is quite a passive guy. If someone is trying to talk him down…no…someone will talk him down, and he won't care. Having the guy that you just insulted just walked away will make you infuriated. Don't you think?" Lunaire shrugged his shoulders exaggeratingly.

"Yeah, I can see that happening."

As they continued their conversation to pass time, Lunaire felt that he had a better grasp on Takeaki's personality. He was intense and perhaps a little bit simple. However, at least he was not a sore loser nor the one to speak ill behind someone's back.

"Nah, Lunaire…"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Why do you have to hold back?"

"About the thing during the selection?"

"Yeah, I am wondering while you can't go all in."

"…Hmm…I might be willing to share." Lunaire scratched his forehead. "But you must answer one of my question first."

"I will hear it out first, before deciding." Takeaki was a little bit on guard as he didn't know what to expect from the foreigner in front of him.

"Why did you cause such a scene with Mibu-senpai on the Club recruitment week?" Lunaire noticed Takeaki's eyes widen as if it would pop from its socket. "Aha, it is not that I have any interest in Mibu-senpai. It is just that I find it a little bit conflicting with your personality right now." As soon as he heard that, Takeaki became less guarded and more embarrassed.

"Is that so?"

"Yep, just curious. I think it is a fair trade. It is not like I want to answer your question freely either. So, deal?" Lunaire nonchalantly closed one of his eyes as he said so.

"Argh…" Takeaki groaned. Seeing the grinning Lunaire was a little grating on his nerve for some reason. "Fine, deal."

"Story time it is then."

"Don't you dare tell this to anyone."

"Right back at you."

"Fine. How do I start…" The scowling boy was chewing on his teeth, trying to find words. "I was just annoyed. You probably don't understand, but I have watched Mibu's swordsmanship since junior high. I can only say that her sword meant only for the sake of competition was beautiful." The boy clenched his first tight. "Unlike mine that meant for killing."

In his mind, Lunaire felt that he just dodged a bullet. The way Mibu's sword developed went that way before he intervened. It totally wasn't his fault, not at all. The point still stood that after meeting with Lunaire, Mibu's swordsmanship took turn for the extreme pragmaticism. While that could mean a different form of beauty, but he digressed.

"Somewhere in between, her sword changed. Someone made it that way." Takeaki bit his lips bitterly.

"Maybe something just isn't meant to be forever." Lunaire sighed. "People change, Kirihara-senpai. For the better or the worse, that is how the world works?" His azure eyes looked pitifully at the slouching upperclassman.

"But…"

"It is not like you can keep her in the cage. She will fly out one day, so you can either appreciate her new self, or move on."

"…"

"Tell you what. I suggest you duel against her at least once before we head out for the competition. If you ask earnestly, perhaps she might be willing."

"What do you know about her swordsmanship?" The black-haired upperclassmen glared at Lunaire.

"It's a mystery." The magician bared a grin.

"You can be a menace sometimes. Do you know that?"

"That's what I do."

"Grr, now it's your turn. Why can't you go all out?"

"Changing the topic now, aren't we?" Lunaire mockingly covered his mouth with the back of his hand. The upperclassman wasn't too amused. "Very well. The answer is a combination between reading between the lines in politics and personal preference."

"What, is some secret organization hunting you down or something?" The upperclassman chuckled.

"Ha ha, no. Kirihara-senpai, who are the pillars of magic society in Japan?"

"Why do you ask that out of blue?"

"It is the Ten Master Clan. Don't you agree."

"Yeah, but I don't see how that is related."

"The thing about politics is all about constructed image. All the lies piled together into a pile that no one want to dig up, but I digressed. What would happen if the heirs of the supposedly the strongest magician clans in Japan got demolished to dust by foreigners?" The magician smiled as he say Takeaki's mouth opened slightly as if he had an epiphany. "Well, I might beat them by a bit if I so choose, but completely crushing them is a no go."

"I can see that. You don't want trouble with the Ten Master Clans. But what about the second reason."

"I am lazy!"

"What?!"

"Too much trouble, not entertaining."

"It can't be that simple."

"Then keep on guessing. I already talked." Lunaire was about to escape from the upperclassman suffering from the severe case of letdown before the signal for the start of the ceremony rang. "Time to go."

Lunaire felt bad. The poor bastard just bought a grade A bullshit.

* * *

After the ceremony concluded, Mizuki was the only one left that wasn't occupied with the task related to the competition, so she took the liberty to wait for the rest outside. However, she caught something on her sense.

"Hmm?"

Something in the technical skill building was radiating out a pushion aura. Because of the rigorous training that she had since her younger day, she could easily deduce the nature of the phenomena even with her glasses on. Her thin shapely fingers pinched the frame of her glasses and pull it out to get a better look.

Someone was using a spirit magic. Not the traditional form that she was used to, but a manipulation of pushion information body. Around the building, there seemed to be a tangible web of light blue waves that had the people repelling quality. Mizuki assumed that the culprit really desired to keep people away.

Mizuki squinted at the source of the disturbance to find the abundance of pushion spirit, circling a person. The demure girl closed her eyes to compare the feeling with anyone she knew.

"Yoshida-kun?"

After completely seeing through the incidence did she started to move. With short, quick and confident bounds, she moved toward the building. Along the way, her movement started to lapse into the style that she practiced over many long years, never to see the light of the day. Her footsteps became softer as she dampened her footfall. Her large eyes glanced at her sides alternately to see if anyone was nearby. She could only rely on her sense, but Lunaire taught her that being safe is better than sorry.

As if ripping through a thin veil, her legs propelled her unimpeded through the barrier. Its only purpose was to deter normal people, thus proved to be useless in the face of Mizuki's eyes. She slowed down to a walk and entered the building. Without sneaking around, Mizuki strolled tall and proud toward the source. Since she knew of the whole situation, there was no need to hid as Mikihiko was focusing on directing the spirits.

Still, it couldn't be said that she was complacent as one of her hand was always near the packet of talisman, safely tucked away in her jacket's inner pocket. In addition, she prepared the basic chant in the case that anything turned awry.

Mizuki wondered internally why she was pursuing this matter. She understood everything about the event and yet she approached. Maybe she was bored from waiting and doing nothing. Mirthfully, Mizuki thought that the personality of the ones at the Scarlet Devil Mansion started to rub off on her. Apparently, even she started to feel that the mundane life was a little too predictable after she had taken a dose of fantasy.

"Yoshida-kun?" She knocked on the door. Visiting the mansion often, she was often drilled in the etiquette by Sakuya. It now became her habit to always knock on door, automatically regardless of the situation. It was a secret that she kind of missed the pat on the head by the mansion residents after she did something right.

"Who is there?!"

As if reacting to the fury laced in his tone, the spirit orbs swarmed toward the door. The visual seen through her eyes were quite clear even when the door was closed.

In an instant, her delicate hand slid the door open, while the other hand was thrown forward. A gust of blue flash briefly left her hand and explode, sending out wave of white light. At the touch of the light, the bluish orbs disintegrated without remaining trace. The blast also made Mikihiko covered his eyes.

Unlike Mikihiko, Mizuki starred eerily straight, despite the bright flash. Seeing that all the spirits were extinguished from existence, she sighed before looking at the boy in front of her who took awfully long to recover.

"Mizuki, are you alright?" Tatsuya who arrived a split second slower appeared with his brow furrowed together. He remembered that Mizuki was almost hit by the spirit magic that Mikihiko was practicing, but she did something to completely nullified its effect. Half of him was curious of the method she did so, while the other half was more interested in how quickly she reacted to the situation.

Sadly, when he was watching the information dimension with his elemental sight, he didn't keep watch on Mizuki. All he did know was the pushion spirit bodies that Mikihiko controlled were shredded. As far as his knowledge was concerned, he had never heard of a magic to counter the spirit magic to such degree. Furthermore, he couldn't read the exact nature of the magic she used. He now held suspicion that Mizuki also had a lineage from ancient magician clan.

"I am quite well. I am sure that Yoshida-kun probably wouldn't hurt me anyway." In an attempt to assure both her friend, she slipped up a little. It was well that nobody noticed the implication that Mikihiko couldn't hurt her even if he tried. While she wasn't the one to look down on people, sometimes she had a certain objective side that could be quite critical.

"But thank heaven you were alright. I am sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry for. I am the one barging in on your experiment, so I am at fault here."

"No, it is my fault. I am very sorry. I could have done something to hurt you." Mikihiko cut in hurriedly.

Mizuki smile neutrally. "That was spirit magic, right?"

The shy girl simply asked to move the conversation forward. She was quite convinced since the beginning that Mikihiko was using some kind of pushion spirit magic. While Mizuki was trained in the usage of the more magical spirit magic, she still could recognize the spiritual being bodies floating around earlier and made the connection. Frankly, she didn't quite like the feeling of the magic as she felt…incomplete.

"Yes. It is based on the Buddhist spirits of heaven and earth. Our family calls it Divine Earth Magic."

Wrong, Mizuki thought. By the way they used talisman with the touch of modern technology, she could tell that if there was a system of mana magic called Divine Earth Magic, this version was perverted beyond repair.

There was no longer the concept of Buddhism in the magic anymore, just simply a method to manipulate the pushion particle. If it was truly a religion based magic, there should be the feeling of faith when being used. She knew the feeling when Lunaire showed her some faith-based simple healing magic.

Besides, if the original was a religious spirit magic, then he should use mana. From the signature that she got, it was undoubtedly psion. Still, she could appreciate the similarity. In mana magic, concept of pushion exists as spirit particle. They were basically the same concept, particles containing information of a fragment of soul. Some modern magic technician called pushion as spirit particle. While the name exists in both field, modern magicians never come anywhere near close to understanding the spirit particles.

Apparently, psion magician had found the way to connect with spirit, but it was still very crude compared to the achievement by their mana counterpart. Objectively, Mizuki was quite proficient at both ordering the spirit and listening to them through her mana, something unimaginable to any spirit magician in modern society.

In the end, she still lamented that a potentially viable mana art was lost through time. Since it was also in her field of specialty, the lost she felt was increased.

"I am sorry again for disturbing you. It was quite rude of me to barge through your dispersal ward quietly like that."

"Yeah, you ward should prevent people from coming close, so it is not strange for you to not expect disturbance." Tatsuya added in.

"How did you two know…oh right…you two also studied about ancient magic." Mikihiko shrunk back, feeling slightly ashamed.

"Still, Yoshida-kun, you shouldn't set up a ward in the middle of the school like that. It is quite obstructive to other people and the one who could sense it can do it from miles away." Mizuki didn't miss the chance to chide him a little about his indiscrete way of using magic.

"I am sorry, Shibata-san."

"Well, considering your desire for a degree of isolation, I can understand your choice. Were you performing summoning of nature spirits? You were quite successful at gathering a number of water spirits."

"Wow, I was completely read." Mikihiko voice shook slightly.

"I didn't know you have this much knowledge on the Ancient magic. Even I could only sense that there were only congregations of pushion." Tatsuya paused and looked intently at Mizuki. "What do you see?"

"Oh, only blue-colored orbs fluttering about."

"Colored? You can see difference in color…"

"Yes. While all were water spirits, the purity leaves a bit to be desire. There are many different hues of blue and perhaps a tint of purple." The demure girl became increasingly aware of the shock on the boy's face. "…It wouldn't cause any trouble, but they wouldn't be particularly suited for specializing in any task."

Suddenly by pure instinct, she took a step back as a blur of motion registered in her mind. If something of this slow was enough to even touch her, Meiling would tease her all day long. A split second later, she just realized that she just avoided Mikihiko's attempt to grasp at her arm.

With such realization, she barely managed to suppress the urge to retaliate with a swing of her arm. Since the other party was an acquaintance, she would at least allow him to explain himself. As she backed away, she kept her right arm between herself and the boy for good measure.

Normally, Mizuki carried a fluffy atmosphere around her. Almost no one had ever seen the soft-spoken girl yell. Tatsuya had to admit inwardly that he had never seen Mizuki made such an intense expression. Her sharp glare leveled at the boy, while her previous comfortable atmosphere evaporated, replaced by cold flatness.

Such an obvious change didn't slip past Mikihiko expressed as he was spooked. While Mizuki didn't physically did anything to him, he felt as if his entire body was dumped in the cold water, seeing her strong reaction. Even when Mizuki saw Mikihiko jumped, she didn't do anything further but stared.

"Ahem." Mizuki cleared her throat.

"I…"

"Mikihiko, what were you pulling?"

"…I am terribly sorry. I am just…shocked."

"I am sure that you have a good reason for acting like that." Mizuki continued to stare crossly.

"I…never thought someone could tell the difference in color between spirits. The thought that you might possess crystal eyes, I couldn't sit still. It might sound like an excuse, but I didn't plan to do anything untoward. I just wanted to verify…"

Mizuki's gaze thawed a little, but was still cold. "I forgive you, but I hope that you won't do that again." The offended girl was not someone to hold grudge, but he did certainly ruin her good mood. While Mizuki wasn't someone moody, Mikihiko brought this upon himself. "Tatsuya-san, is everyone at the meeting point?"

"Yes, all of us are done." Tatsuya sensed the this was her attempt to escape from the awkward situation and thus gladly assisted her.

"Very well, let's go then."

As they walked away in silence, Mizuki contemplated what Mikihiko said. While she had never heard of the concept of crystal eyes, she could guess the nature of the subject. He seemed to be surprise that she could see spiritual manifestation directly, which he deemed to be very rare. It was a little enlightening as she thought that the skill was quite basic as everyone in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, even the fairies, were capable of sensing spirit to certain degree.

00000

No, you won't see Lunaire wrecking face just yet. There is still a lot of thing that must happen before the opening phase of the event. This is still the beginning of the nine school competition arc.

I took the liberty in augmenting Mizuki's personality. I think that she is too passive and her meeting with Touhou cast will surely change her personality.

If you have any suggestion or word of encouragement, please leave a review.


	44. Chapter 44: One-Two

Hello, ITalkToSky Here

It's not stopping. I am not sure if the quality dropped as I write, but I will keep on writing just to make sure that I make the most out of this bubble of productivity.

00000

 _ **The Day of Departure**_

Although their bus departed over one and a half hour late because of Mayumi, Alice and Lunaire didn't care so much. The unmoving bus was a perfect situation for them to start sipping tea from their thermos, smiling nonchalantly at the delay.

When Mayumi really did arrive, it was as if the two was annoyed as they neatly tucked their drink away and sat still. They didn't talk to each other, apart from a few words here and there over the past hour.

Instead of thinking that their silence was creepy, most seemed to fawn at the sight. Most people gave more focus to Miyuki for her more intense alluring charm, but some did pay some attention to the pair.

One of such person was Chiyoda Kanon, who was bitterly biting her teeth from jealousy. In her eyes, Alice and Lunaire were a good match for each other. However, they got to enjoy the bus ride together, while her boyfriend was in the storage bus just because he was a magician technician. The unfairness was almost a crime as she was looking forward to a bus ride with Kei.

Alice and Lunaire expected an uneventful ride, but life always throws a curve ball.

* * *

"Oi, Lunaire."

"Yes, finally brought yourself to call me out."

"You have noticed…" Takeaki smiled bitterly, while looking down.

"Yes, you have been looking over here for a while now." Lunaire lowered his gaze down to his hand. "Your hands are shaking too. Did Mibu rattled it too much?"

"What did you do to her…" The boy's voice was low and raspy.

"Nothing in particular." Lunaire looked forward, concealing his expression from his upperclassman. "So, what are you thought?"

Takeaki went silent, suspicious about Lunaire's words. He could never get a glimpse of Lunaire's intention.

"It was different…"

"Specifically?"

"She was…decisive. So decisive that I am…scared of her." Takeaki looked down, deep in thought. "Her eyes stared at me, much more intensely that I have ever seen." His hand brushed against his shirt collar. "Her moves were unyielding and precise. I could even say that they were calculative with the purpose to take me down. At the same time, she didn't seem to be angry during the fight. She wanted to win…just win…not win against me in particular. Do you understand?"

"So?"

"She had changed."

"You have said that many times already. What matters is what you think of her now?"

"I…don't like it one bit. Her sword wasn't clouded, not anymore at least. But it was stripped of its competitive spirit and became something of a tool to fulfill a purpose…"

At this point, Lunaire almost felt pity for the boy. He admired the Mibu's swordsmanship for its pure competitive spirit. That was not a sin, but completely understandable. But he could not bring himself to appreciate her growth. He was quite selfish.

His description of current her swordsmanship was apt. However, it was also wrong. While it was stripped of its competitive spirit, it didn't become an uncaring tool for victory. On the contrary, Mibu sword became a tool to make sure that every single one of her brothers and sisters return home, breathing. That was the victory she sought after she took up the mantle of leadership, reinforced by the brush of death her subordinate faced. There was no way for the sword forged under such resolution to be pointless. Rather, it would be worthy of respect and beautiful in some eyes.

The silver haired magician shook his head as he pretended to listen. Inwardly, he sighed.

Alice's green eyes fluttered opened. Her body didn't shook, making her awakening looked natural. However, Alice would not wake up from her pleasant sleep for no reason.

Magicians are beings with very keen awareness. While they didn't have the sharpest natural hearing or eyesight, they boast a very powerful magical sense. In layman term, it would be a devilishly accurate gut feeling. If they tried hard enough, they can even detect the cause.

"Watch out!"

On the other lane of the highway, a small bus was spinning out of control. The students on the bus became clamoring, pointing out that the tires were blown off. Leaving the comrade obvious aside, there should be someone with better sense of urgency…or not.

Ignoring the stimulated children aside, Lunaire and Alice watched with impassive eyes. Running through their minds were the simulation of how the situation could turn up. They already determined that it wasn't an accident, but premeditated. The vehicle spun and caught on fire without hitting anything else. The fire was too unnatural and their keen sense could detect the magicians in the car.

As if to confirm their conclusion, for no apparent reason, the spinning vehicle was launched to their side of the highway. At this point, all the excited children were panicking, previously assuming that the accident on the other side didn't concern them.

The brake was slam and with the assistance of the magic by Suzune, came to an abrupt halt. It should be a rather effective lesson to keep their seatbelts on, if not for the fact that there was a flaming, spinning bus careening at them.

"Let me shove it back!"

"Disappear!"

"Halt!"

No one was panicking, but no one was thinking either. Lunaire observed the train wreck calmly as multiple half-deployed magic rituals overlap upon each other. The result was that all were locked in conflict, unable to exert its effect. A fruitless three-way-tie ensured that if nothing was done, the bus would ram at full speed. As an extra salt to the injury, their attempts created a torrent of differently polarized psion. The ensuing maelstrom of malformed magic was nauseating and obstructive for any further magic casting.

"You idiots, stop now!" Mari desperately cried, realizing the situation.

The ones with itchy trigger fingers drew back their magic, wasting precious seconds remaining. The damage was done however, as their haphazard deployment of magic left residue of their effort behind, further increased the difficulty in salvaging the situation. Stronger interference ability was required to override the mess of magic brewing in the bus.

"Juumonji!"

The magician that Mari called upon didn't fare better as his paled vestige suggested. He could only glare murderously at the flaming bus, cursing his magic to be ready quicker in vain.

"Leave the flame to me." Everyone who still had their wits with themselves turned to Miyuki, who had her magic prepped and ready.

Apparently, the scene of chaos unfolding before him broke the dam. It was grating to see such undisciplined action as he could have sworn that even Marisa would think several times more than them before acting. It was quite a bold claim, given the impulsive witch's reputation.

Alice seemed to understood his intention and gently tapped at the button on her phone shaped CAD. In less than a heartbeat, an explosion erupted from the seat beside her. While for the magician presented, it felt like an explosion of blinding blue light, it didn't leave any physical mark. Not even a strand of hair was disturbed. It was different for the whirlpool of magic sequences though as the vigorous psion waves blasted them away without trace. This included the half-formed magic of Miyuki and Juumonji.

From outside the bus, one could see the transient psion light exploded from the truck. As if on cue, a magic ritual was immediately deployed onto the truck.

Lunaire whistled as he observed Alice's handiwork. He knew that she was never a fan of brute force and it showed in her work. Rather stopping the offending bus like a solid bulwark, her magic converted the thermal energy in the flaming car into force in the opposite direction to help slowing the object down. It was extremely streamlined and efficient as it both stopped the car and the fire.

Magic violates the laws of thermodynamics. However, there were some that partially apply when magic is concerned. While magic apparently supplied the energy necessary for the event, there were theory that it wasn't the sole source.

There was a particularly well-observed phenomenon that accelerating object with magic decreases its temperature. This is because that while magic increases the kinetic energy of the object directly through acceleration, the world tried to compensate for the effect by lowering some other form of energy the object may have, like thermal energy. It wasn't one to one conversion, but it helped in the efficiency of some spell.

Demonstrating her ingenuity, in addition to slowing the spinning bus down, she also lowered the temperature and extinguishing the flame in the process. By converting thermal energy into extra force to stop the bus's motion, she made her magic both more efficient and more powerful.

Still, to the untrained eyes, Alice's magic still stopped the flaming bus like a bulwark. The offending bus grinded to a halting stop.

The whole breathtaking ordeal lasted only for two seconds. After the psion explosion and a bolt of complex magic, only a charred chunk of metal remained.

"Huh. Can't stay calm to save themselves." Lunaire sighed and closed the book he was reading earlier on his lap. Without saying anything else, he twisted his waist, letting out a comfortable sigh when he heard several cracks. Alice, who was yanked cruelly out of her pleasant beauty sleep, shook her head and stretched to wring the last of her dizziness off her head.

Some might call them cold for not checking on the wellbeing of the rest of students. However, the two judged that it wasn't necessary and decided to turn a blind eye to avoid hassle, which eventually homed in on them anyway.

This happened while all the students' brains were dumping their error logs. They did not have the chance to reboot before both the perpetrator lapsed into airplane mode, seemingly refusing reception.

"Is everyone alright?" Mari recovered and swept her eyes around, even checking the storage vehicle following the bus.

"That was too close for comfort. Anyone who is hurt should learn to keep their seatbelt on." Mayumi grumbled. "Hope there is none of that next time."

At least they recovered quickly. Lunaire had to give them that. The anxiety and terror evaporated in a blink of an eye. He really wanted to berate their weak sense of urgency, but he wasn't in a position to do so and more importantly, didn't care to. The last reason probably was the primary reason.

There were also some that didn't ease their tension. The most notable were the ones were the big three. Juumonji and Mayumi stared at the two increasingly mysterious magicians. Mari wondered why the two went silent and quickly found their target. She was the only who didn't notice the source of the psion blast. She caught a glimpse of Alice using her magic, but the Gram Demolition that Lunaire released stunned her. Judging from the two's reaction, Mari quickly connected the dots to the ones leisurely ignoring their surroundings.

"Should I say flawlessly done?" To start the topic, Juumonji speared forward.

"Thank you, but the credit also goes to Ichihara-senpai too? She was the one who made it possible." Without waiting Lunaire who gently lowered his book, Alice answered plainly.

When she heard that, Suzune's eyes widened slightly, before she nodded at Alice. This reaction would induce surprise from both Kanon and Mari as they totally didn't notice the quite girl's contribution.

"About that…Lunaire, you…" Mayumi tried to bring the conversation to the matter that concerned them, namely the method they stopped in flaming bus.

As the petite girl spoke though, Lunaire eyes drifted to the window toward the charred bus.

"What?! What are they doing?" Mayumi froze because it was the first that they heard Lunaire used that tone. Most, if not all the time, Lunaire spoke in a politely leveled tone. Alice spoke in a slightly more cheerful tone. Sometimes there would be a hint of boredom mixed into their voice. However, it was the first time he used such a strong biting tone.

Lunaire took a glance outside and saw something that grated his common sense. The male students from the technician team left their storage vehicle and started the rescuing operation. It was rather idiotic in Lunaire's mind as there was no one to rescue in the car. Furthermore, it was definitely premeditated, thus the evidence should be left intact. And here they were, trying to haphazardly open the burnt tin can.

The silver magician sprung up from his seat and bowed slightly to the big three in apology for leaving the conversation. He then rushed out the bus toward the scene, effectively running from the interrogation.

Alice sent out a poke at Lunaire's mind for leaving her to hold the fort. However, there was nothing she could do about it now as leaving was simply not an option anymore.

"…" Alice smiled without saying anything, daring the other party to make a move first.

"…" At the abrupt leave by Lunaire, Mayumi and Mari were stunned. Juumonji merely exhaled loudly, but otherwise was unreadable.

"…" Alice kept her smile steady.

While the three were shocked, they didn't particularly have trouble understanding what happened. Lunaire expelled out a jet of psion in all direction, systematically blew the area inside the bus cleared of any straggling magic sequences that may interfere with casting. After that, Alice simply casted her desired magic on the flaming vehicle. The matter was mindbogglingly simple. However, what troubled them was the sheer speed and their flawless execution. Alice avoided the interrogation.

If they were like a bludgeoning hammer, Alice and Lunaire were scalpels. In a span of few seconds, they resolved all their problem, while they were still desperately clamoring in the dark. A simple one-two tap was all they needed.

"Again, very well done. Your quick thinking helped us this time." Mari scratched the back of her head.

"You are welcomed."

"Still, I didn't know Lunaire can use Gram Demolition. It is the first time I have seen it." The large man asked calmly.

"We are capable of many things." Alice cryptically smile as she answered. Both Juumonji and Mayumi caught on to her meaning and backed off.

It was considered a breach of etiquette to question someone about their magic if they are not willing to disclose. The rule was implied as friends could be willing to share among each other. If the other party showed the displeasure in disclosing their technique, it was considered very rude to keep on pressing. Magic was a lifeline and weapons for the magicians, so forcing them to speak was like coercing them to give up their unique hard-earned advantage.

"That was amazing though. I have never felt such a powerful psion wave before that it almost rocked me off my feet." That didn't stop energetic Kanon from joining in. While psion wave did not interfere with physical dimension, allowing it to phase through wall unimpeded, magicians could still perceive them as light stimulus. Combined with some wave property of psion, a sudden exposure to highly fluctuating and intense psion waves could cause severe motion sickness. However, it was quite unlikely in this case as Lunaire blasted his psion in steam not regulated waves.

"Unlike you, Kanon!" Mari fumed and turned to bonked at the poor girl's head. She finally remembered her annoyance from how undisciplined their spell usages were. Kanon should have kept quiet as Mari wouldn't be able to remember to reprimand her.

"Ow! Mari-senpai, why did you hit me?"

"Stuff it, Kanon, do you have the right to complain? Morisaki and Kitayama both panicked and used magic to complicate the situation. Still, they are only the first-year students, but you are a second-year and still decided to join them?"

"Uh, but my reaction is the fastest. I didn't expect anyone to overlap my magic."

When the two in question were mentioned, their shoulders slumped dejectedly.

"Fastest is not always better. You didn't even take the time to evaluate and communicate. Moreover, you didn't even disengage your magic when you found that it was overlapping."

"…I was wrong. I am sorry." Kanon conceded tearfully.

Alice watched them interestingly as they tried to get the matter sorted out, while waiting for the police to arrive. Inside, she was relieved that Juumonji and Mayumi were willing to back off with only her gentle nudge.

At the same time, she didn't get off scotch free as there were many who caught a glimpse of their ability. Both Juumonji and Mayumi could safely conclude that their ability could easily contend with any self-respecting Ten Master Clans member. Their conundrum was that there had no idea whether this was the full extent of their power or just a fragment. They didn't dare to fathom the second possibility.

00000

And cut…

So, what do you think about that. If you are wondering why Lunaire and Alice were busting themselves in a blaze of glory, it was to reinforce the perception both Mayumi and Juumonji had about them.

Firstly, they know that Lunaire and Alice had things to hide. Second, they are extremely powerful to match or even surpass Ten Master Clan. Third, they have no contact outside Japan as they seemed to immigrate here long before being known as magicians according to the record.

One hypothesis that they will come up with will be that these two are from powerful bloodline in Europe. The reason that the European country let them go, despite their shortage of magicians, might be because their parents weren't magicians as the magic related traits simply skipped the generation.

Another hypothesis is that some other Ten Master Clans decided to create a secret project, which wasn't strange considering that Yotsuba does that all the time. Since there are some power play and suspicion in the Ten Master Clans, they might start to point finger at each other as the responsible party for creating these two.

Lastly, Lunaire and Alice might simply be the naturally born talents. While unlikely, it would explain how the sought to avoid the radar as they didn't have backer of someone decided to target them for their talents. If they wanted to take a step further, the fact that Alice and Lunaire slipped up and showed extraordinary ability might be because of their naïve nature that can be associated with people growing out of political loop.

I think it is really neat to have them drop red herring and cause misunderstanding between their opponents rather than trying to keep everything silent, which never going to work.

As always, please leave a review if you have a suggestion, question or word of encouragement.


	45. Chapter 45: Arrival

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Sadly, the update will probably trickle down from now.

00000

The students arrived without even a trace of terror from the accident. No one suspected anything, except the selected few. It was the height of complacency, common among the high schoolers that still didn't understand that magicians were, originally, tools for war.

However, witnessing the event did leave their mark in some student. While not all might realize the implication of foul play, most were reminded of their complacency, in one way or another.

"Why the long face, Hattori?"

"Kirihara…It's nothing."

"You look awful for it to be nothing."

"I've…lost confidence."

"Oi oi, we are up for the chopping block the day after tomorrow and you are having doubt now?"

Unlike Kirihara, Hattori got his work cut out for him. The prior only were assigned to crowd ball, Hattori was assigned to both Battle Board and Monolith Code.

Kirihara was slightly depressed from the early realization, but his competition could be considered low key. The entire school didn't count too much on his win or loses. While his victory would contribute a substantial part, their entire strategy revolves around their big three. Mayumi and Mari were expected to dominate Speed Shooting and Battle Board, respectively. Juumonji would lockdown their victory in Monolith Code.

For Kirihara, seeing one of the linchpin of the plan, albeit a minor one, still made him worry. In his eyes, Hattori seemed to be someone who earned his self-confidence through hard work. Perhaps that might be one of the reason to explain his overconfidence in some area.

"So, why are you depressed?"

"Looks like you still haven't noticed it, how I envy you…"

"What is this? Are you calling me stupid?"

"No, but I admit that you are slow."

"Hey!"

Hattori mocking smile returned. It somewhat irritated Kirihara that his friend just recovered at his expense.

"…Come on. Tell me, what is on your mind?"

"That earlier incidence…"

"That was a close one."

"Yeah, and if nothing happened, a lot of people would have lost their lives. To think that I only sat through it…"

"But didn't the president and her company cleaned it all up. Nothing happened after all, so there is no use thinking about it like this." Kirihara's comment caused Hattori to laugh bitterly.

"Kirihara, when that happened, you were sitting in the back, right?"

"Huh, yeah, why?" Kirihara blinked, unable to catch up with the change of the topic. He frowned slightly when he answered.

"So, you probably didn't hear it…"

"Hear what?"

"What Lunaire said…As much as it irritates me, I have nothing to say to it."

"Did that guy say anything strange?"

"You felt that blast of psion, right? That was from Lunaire. In the split second that I stood up from my seat and turned to look at him, everything was already finished. Just like that, poof, they solved everything." Hattori breathed in to recollect himself. His eyes casted down under Kirihara's questioning stare. "Before I could even regain my bearing, I heard him muttered. Huh, can't stay calm to save themselves?"

"…"

"It sounded arrogant, but it was completely warranted. We couldn't even stay calm to save ourselves, while they only took seconds." Hattori clenched his fists. "I swear I would berate the severely if they had said such line before today. At the moment that I heard Lunaire said that, I almost retorted. What is this fool saying?"

"Yeah, I have heard about them. There were unsavory rumors that they were idiot that only relied on their talent, seeing that their theoretical grades are rock bottom." Kirihara shook his head softly, lamenting at how annoying the rumor mill could be. "Though, that didn't last too long as people started to realize how thoughtful they are and will sometimes answer questions posted to them like professors. After a time, people have come to believe that they were tanking score, much to the teachers' chagrin, but none could find proof." Kirihara sighed as he looked at his friend. He finally understood what had chipped Hattori's self-confidence. Being beaten and insulted by people he looked down upon was quite rough to bear.

"Yeah, and I didn't know that you listen to rumor mills."

"Hey, don't fault me on that. Human's jealousy can be quite ugly, so I don't listen to the rumor mills either, but it was quite loud this time. I couldn't help it."

"I guess rumor mills can be useful."

"Rarely, because most of the time, the rumors are just pure garbage."

"But this time, they were right. Those two had tricks up their sleeves and I don't think this is everything."

"…I used to not be too trouble about them. I admit that I may fall short from them in term of magical power, but I still am ahead of them." Hattori sighed as he nursed his bruised ego. "However, this time, the underclassmen that I looked down upon showed that they far outstripped me in both departments. This is thoroughly depressing, is it not?" Hattori lapsed black into a gloomy look.

Seeing the undignified form of his friend, Kirihara shook his head and sighed, wondering what to do with him.

"In the heat of the moment, they analyzed, communicate and enacted their plan in one breath. It was quite far away from me who could only remained still."

"You didn't worsen the situation though."

"Sure, but I didn't better it too and that is not going to solve the problem."

"Even chief Watanabe didn't do anything in that situation. Isn't it just the matter of suitability?"

"But she still helped by calling upon the Group Leader Juumonji to do the job. While that didn't work out as intended, she still did something." Hattori's tone remained heavy. "I would have been happy with just that. However, those two are on a different level."

"…"

"I guess they even anticipated the chaos and decided that communicating and formulating the plan with different people wasn't an option." Hattori took a glance at Lunaire and Alice who rolled their luggage away in their carts toward the hotel. The two boys grunt as he pulled his own luggage up into the carts provided by the hotel. "It was as if they understood that people will panic and cast magic, so they simply prepared a plan accounting for that and execute it during the limited window of time."

"Maybe you are beating yourself too much now. That is just the matter of experience probably. You already did well anticipating the ensuing panic attack." Hattori swung his hand onto the other boy's shoulders, knocking a wind of him. Hattori only gave him a look, but didn't retaliate.

Silence fell upon the pair as they entered the lobby. Kirihara racked his brain to pull out something that could bring his friend back from the death spiral.

"Those two kind of give me the creep, you know? I can't read them at all." The comment from Kirihara was thrown out of blue. "I don't claim to be the most socially adept, but I could read into someone a little bit. Not these two however…"

"Creep? What do you mean?"

"I…huh…you know my dad was in the marines, right?"

"Yeah, I remembered that you told me that he was deployed several times to Tsushima Island. What about him?" Hattori's brow furrowed quizzically.

"He was only a corporal and as with all the low-ranked officers, he was always at the frontline. He got to know a lot of officers and would occasionally bring them home for a drink. I usually stay away from their group at this time. All of them would carry this…vibe…this killing intense not found among common people. It was like a medal for those who bath in the field of battle" Kirihara paused and look grimly forward. "It became quite easy for me to distinguish whether someone had seen combat. No offense, but I can tell at glance that you have never killed someone before, me neither. However, I can't tell for these two."

"What do you mean that you can't tell?"

"Just like I said it. I can't tell if they had killed or not. They don't carry the killing intent, but they don't seem to be chickens that don't know what war was like."

"So, you are calling me chicken…"

"We are both chickens in that sense. Unlike them…You saw how fast they reacted. I imagined that they wouldn't be too uncomfortable if dropped into a hot zone. That is why I don't understand…"

"If they seemed to be suited for battle, why don't the carry the menacing vibe about them, right?"

"That is exactly what I don't understand, Hattori. Especially Lunaire, I don't know what he is thinking most of the time. It is quite frustrating you know, thinking that every time I am talking to him, I could be led by the nose at any time."

"…That does sound quite unpleasant." Hattori opened his mouths many time afterword, wanting to say something, but didn't.

The both lapsed into silence, focusing on pushing their cart forward.

"We should stop here. Thinking about it too much now will just distract us. We have a competition to win here." Kirihara's voice was louder as if to convince not only Hattori, but himself too.

* * *

"Yeah…"

"Eh? Onii-sama, you are saying that the earlier incidence is not an accident."

"The vehicle's trajectory was too unnatural and upon closer investigation, there were remnants of magic left in the vehicles."

"But I didn't see anything…"

"At the time, they used the magic in the tightest time frame possible to avoid leaving behind remnants. Such technique requires a specialized training, which is quite pitiful for them to end up as mere sacrifice."

"All the magic that altered the movement of the car was casted by the driver. In other word, it was a suicide attack, aiming to ram the whole flaming car into our bus."

"How despicable!"

"Yes, and Lunaire seemed to understand this."

"Onii-sama? What does Lunaire have to do with this?"

"He was the one who stopped our technicians team form commencing rescue operation."

"…"

"No, he probably wasn't related. He must have realized the same thing as I did and decided to at least preserve the evidence on the scene as much as possible. It was the best course action that he could have done in that situation."

"Is that so, then I am relieved."

Tatsuya patted his sister's shoulders before resume pushing their cart into the lobby. Registering the group of people sitting on the couch, he didn't flinch and only raised his eyebrows questioningly.

The young lady on the couch waved at them. The familiar red-haired girl was claded shorts and light vest, Erica, was as energetic as always and quickly approached them.

"It has been a week. How have you been?"

"Not bad…Speaking of which, Erika, why are you here?"

"To cheer you on of course."

Seeing that his sister and friend started their own conversation, Tatsuya took it as his time to go and settle his business as one member of the technician team. After only few words, his back quickly retreated out of view.

"Good day, Miyuki-san."

"Oh, good day to you too, Mizuki. You came too?"

"Yes, we came together as a group along with Erika, Yoshida-kun and Leo-kun."

"So, they also came. Still, how can you get in here? I heard that this hotel is exclusive to the participants of the tournament and high-ranked officials."

"I used a little bit of my family connection to…" Erika flashed a Cheshire grin. "…Ease things up a little bit."

"As for the rest, I am sure that you will know in due time, so please wait for the surprise." Mizuki added lightheartedly.

Miyuki giggled charmingly. It was a genuine laugh more than a cynical one.

"That's Chiba family for you."

The statement was appropriately fitting. Chiba family, while not sitting atop the hierarchy as the Ten Master Clans, was still a part of the Hundred Families. However, unlike most Hundred Families that possessed good magic and minor string in politics, Chiba family was a cut above other.

Erika's family wasn't famous for their brute magical prowess, but the techniques they pioneered for the use of close combat situations. These were not the flashiest, but the ones that were most likely help the magicians stay alive and fight another day. As the magicians were mostly employed as combat troops, both for policing and military, a close combat techniques were lifesavers.

This was the reason that there was a rumor floating around that over half of the policemen and infantry were trained by the Chibas. Their training was in such high demand that units had to send them a petition, requesting for lessons. It wasn't even a question whether Chiba family held tangible influence. They held them in spade and could arguably eclipse the level of the Ten Master Clans.

"But is that ok? I thought that you hate using your own family as backup…" Miyuki remarked.

"I dislike other people simply seeing me as a daughter of Chiba family. Connections are meant to be used and if you don't, it is your lost." Erika answered strongly.

While it sounded rather strong and hostile, the other two didn't take it to heart. Miyuki saw this as an opportunity to exit the scene to go unpack her luggage. Erika simply waved at her departure.

The redhead turned to her black-haired companion. As soon as her eyes caught the image of her friend, they widened. For the time that she had known the bespectacled girl in their class, she thought that she has a very shy girl with budding womanly charm. However, there were moments that this friend of her would lapse into thoughtful moments when she couldn't read into her mind at all.

She probably didn't want to hear what was going on in Mizuki's mind as she was being quietly chastised. From Mizuki's point of view, if Erika was going to use the connections, she might as well go all the way by using her position from a prestigious family as a leverage. There was no point in being halfhearted about it. If only the past her could see her now, the little Mizuki would turn pale in a heartbeat. The influence from all in the Scarlet Mansion, except Marisa and Alice, was quite strong. Most of them advocated the policy of "kicking them when they are down, always…except if they are friends." The little Mizuki once was a little innocent girl quickly grew into a person that didn't go halfway toward any goal.

"Mizuki, sorry for the wait, ze!"

"Marisa, you just missed Miyuki-san." The sound popped the miniature personal space that Mizuki constructed as she turned toward Marisa, who was bolting toward them.

The witch was dress in the same black and white palette. However, a witch hat was omitted and her clothes were replaced with fitting shirt, vest and knee length skirt. Hanging from her side was a purse that contained the little that she needed. For some reason, Mizuki would dare to place a bet that there was some explosive inside, in addition her enhanced CAD.

Since they would be out of contact with their familiar environment for a while, Alice asked everyone to be equipped with the new CADs with their induction stones replaced with superior Philosopher's stones. Appearance wise, it didn't differ from the normal ones as Kirin only surgically replaced the stone. It wasn't as if they could improve it in any other way due to the lack of technology to tamper with the processors and programing itself. Still, it offered tremendous boost to all parameters concerned with spell casting. Without doubt, if First High students were granted access to these devices, winning all the first places would not be just a possibility, but a predestined result. However, there was no way that was going to happen.

While everyone with the right to carry it could blast any offending party with ten times firepower, including Mizuki, the CAD was still very useful for its discretion. Most magicians wouldn't be able to tell the outputted magic even if they tried.

"Sorry, sorry, I just have a lot of things to unpack."

"I am not surprise." The bespectacled girl giggled.

00000

There you go…another chapter.

Are you excited guys, now it is the first meeting between 2 foxes plus 2 boys. In this case, the foxes are Lunaire and Kudou Retsu, while the boys are just Masaki and Shinkurou. Don't worry, this won't turn into a bashing fic. I assure you.

As always, please comment if you have any suggestion or general word of encouragement.


	46. Chapter 46: Tough Meal

ITalkToSky here.

Hello guys, I will be going to my battlefield call exam soon, so I will give this to you now.

There is a lot of information on this chapter, so it may be hard to understand or I might just be unclear.

00000

"It should be about time." He thumbed the cover of his watch closed.

The pocket watch's cover was polished silver. The surface reflected the light of the chandelier and glittered in profound purity. The light show emphasized the engraved sigil that was presented proudly on the cover. The sigil was simple, but exquisitely made. On a hexagram inscribed in a circle, the silver eager in flight was carrying a dip pen. Although the silver should make the whole sigil looked the same color, when viewed in the light, the engraving seemed to have strange purplish blue tint. On the backside, decorative patterns were engraved, incorporating a perfect blend of curves.

Apart from appearing very expensive and dripping with craftsmanship, the pocket watch conflicted greatly with its owner. An ornate, mechanical pocket watch had no right to be held by the hands of the young. While the traditional clock with needles remained somewhat in the modern time, it usually was in a wristwatch. Hardly anyone other than the elderly appreciated the value of the pocket watch anymore. And yet, a boy who looked to be in their fifteenth to eighteenth year was using it.

Instead of giving a contrasting image however, the ornate pocket watch fitted him well. The boy was dressed similarly to his peer, in a rather plain school uniform with green on white pattern. However, what set him and the girl beside him apart from anyone else were the colors of their hair. It didn't seem to be dyed. Such fashion seemed to die out the last few decades. Furthermore, their faces screamed of their foreign ancestry.

"You still keep that watch with you."

"Always, Alice, Always." Lunaire's voice was laced with both warmth and bitterness.

Alice didn't say anything further. She once brought up the topic a long time ago and Lunaire told her the story. It was not a pretty one.

"There is quite a lot of people in attendance."

"Yep, there are around 300 or more in this hall tonight. It's bloody noisy if you ask me."

"I think it is quite cheerful, just like our parties back home."

"It would be better if everyone is interesting. I mean, back then we have every flavor of people. We have everything from a nut job gap hag to a glutton to immortal flying princess." The silver-haired boy laughed cheerfully like a windchime. "I only realized how interesting of a life I was living back there when I arrive on this side."

"You missed your chance. You should have cause an incident." Alice covered her mouth and giggled. Her eyes narrowed amusingly.

"Damn it!" Lunaire raised his voice in mock bitterness. "And now I am stuck with them, children obsessed with measuring the size of their sticks with another."

"That is a crude way of putting it." Alice took this opportunity to jab at her longtime friend.

The blond was waiting for the reaction and got the one she desired a heartbeat later. She burst out laughing seeing that Lunaire pouted.

"Anyway Alice, we can't stay stuck together with glue like this. I will…take a walk."

"I smell trouble when you said it like that."

"I can barely count the peaceful walks in my life with one hand. It is quite common for a wild Marisa and Gap hag to appear after all."

"Yes, yes, whatever." Alice smiled. Both split up and started to wander aimlessly, while making sure to keep their guard up.

* * *

"Alice, this is why I don't take a walk…" A few seconds after separation, he met his first opponent. He had to give it to this opponent. She was quite persistent throughout his first semester at First High.

"Oh, why the long face? Are you disappointed to not see your favorite Senpai in party dress?" The beaming black haired girl winked at him.

"A little bit. Party dress tends to make girls look a bit more attractive…if it suits them." His defense was water tight. He learned early on that.

"What?! Are you saying that I am not suited for dress?" Mayumi glared at him crossly, prompting a laughed from him. Luckily, she suppressed her voice enough that the whole hall didn't know the content of their conversation.

"No, it's to opposite. I think you will be breathtaking in a dress that it is quite a shame not to see."

"Eh? Ah…I…why thank you?" Mayumi was stumped.

The reason that Lunaire could deftly avoided Mayumi multiple attempts to pry into his secret was because his poker face was rated for fracture resistant. The girl was used to having people crack up under her relentless teasing. Coupled with her rather attractive appearance, she could easily fluster most boys and made their tongues a little lose. This made her quite susceptible when her prey bit her back straight on.

"A dress and…your perfect height would make you very huggable."

"Why you?!"

The conclusion of the match was out. Mayumi had no resistant, especially when her complex was poked. Lunaire had to admit that it was a low blow, but it distracted her long enough to blunt her momentum.

At this moment, Mayumi weighted the option of knocking some sense into her cheeky junior in her mind. Her trembling, red face was quite an adorable sight. The trace of her earlier mischievous smile could not be seen.

Lunaire smile brightly as he watched Mayumi as she found her bearing. He had the slight urge to pat her head. Over the few years on this side, Lunaire had found the enjoyment in patting heads. It first started with Mizuki. The young Mizuki was positively huggable and her silky head was very comfortable to pat. The shy girl also found it very nice to have her head patted too. However lately, it seemed that she had grown up and not wanting to be treated like a child anymore. Lunaire was secretly sad about that.

"Of course, that was a compliment. Why are you unhappy?" Lunaire faked an innocent tone.

"…" Mayumi didn't buy it for even for a moment and guessed rightly so that Lunaire was secretly smirking.

"Ahaha, as usual you are weak against Lunaire, aren't you?" A third voice interjected when Lunaire was trying execute his bailout protocol.

"Watanabe-senpai…" Lunaire felt his smile a little bit strained. While Mari wasn't as teasing as Mayumi, she was frank in her questioning.

Over the past few months, Lunaire would be rather dull to not notice their attempts to pry on to his secret. He didn't know where he tripped their alarm to start their quests. It started quite early in the semester around the time when their scuffle with Blanche rolled in. Correct, it wasn't a scuffle, but a one-sided beat down. Lunaire was sure that there were no one privy to his involvement. Ono-sensei who was watching the event from outside the building shouldn't be able to know anything, since he chased her away. He doubted that she could even tell his magic power apart to know that he was involved. Still, the point still stood that he and Alice were under suspicion. That was the reason he decided to preemptively derail their assumption with a red herring. That way, they would end up chasing a fake smoke.

"Still, you should tone it down a little. At least, Mayumi is your upperclassman. Otherwise, are you planning to hit on her?" Mari laughed meaningfully. Mayumi and Mari were already told by Lunaire that he wasn't in any relationship with Alice in one of the previous interaction, so she could make the joke.

"No, even if it is me, I don't think I can reach for the eldest daughter of Saegusa." At this mention, Mayumi scowled.

"You won't know if you don't try."

"Perhaps…" Lunaire looked to the side and saw the familiar girl with black short hair walking around. Judging from her Victorian maid uniform, she was one of the waiter. He called out to her, who promptly came over. "Mizuki, cute outfit you have got there. Can I have a glass of punch please. Senpai, would you like a glass of drink."

"I would also like a glass. Mizuki-chan, you are here? I certainly didn't expect you to be here." Mari asked quizzically.

"I was dragged here by my friend. It was still nice to meet Watanabe-senpai here. Saegusa-senpai too." Mizuki bowed slightly, slightly obstructed by the drink tray she held.

"Hello to you too, Mizuki-chan. Ne, listen to me. Lunaire just called me short again." Mayumi who caught on to her second wind, started again.

Mizuki giggled lightly. "Saegusa-senpai, I think petite stature can be a charm point. I best be off, I shouldn't linger around a single group for too long." She bowed and proceed on her way.

Lunaire turned to Mayumi and presented a saccharine smile. He knew that Mayumi would take this as a mocking. She tried to recruit Mizuki against him, which never going to happen.

"I think we have had our fun. What is it that you want to know?" His light tone suddenly turned solemn, making both girls straighten up their backs. His clear bluish eyes locked straight at the two of them. As a bonus, he loosened the suppression on his aura a little.

"The question that you have been avoid answering so far."

"That question? The one that you keep pestering and teasing me for the whole semester?" Lunaire saw the Mayumi nodded. He sighed deeply, feeling a few decades older. "The answer is still the same. I don't want to tell you. When did my problem become your problem?" He paused and took a breath. "Forgive me, I got irritated."

"But you could have been threatened. I don't know who or what made you unable to show your best, but we could help you from that."

"I must agree with Mayumi here. You seemed to have a serious problem looming on you. What kind of seniors are we if we can't take care of our junior properly? Do you have that little of a trust for us?"

"I have quite little trust for you two actually, the trust that you two won't bite the dust when the party starts. If you know what I mean…"

"Do you know what you just said…?" Mari furrowed her brows as her hand curled into a fist.

"I am sure I have mastered my words well. What about you? Do you know what I just said?" The pair of blue eyes narrowed and glared with intensity.

"…I…We might not be of help on ourselves. However, my family surely won't leave such good magicians like you and Alice to be threatened by someone. I can…"

"Saegusa? Oh right, the Ten Master Clans and their righteous glory…" Mayumi and Mari were sure that Lunaire simply spat out those words bitterly. "I have lost my faith in them already and nothing you say can convince me otherwise." This was one of the few times that Lunaire didn't look the eyes of his listener when he spoke. His eyes were casted low to the side.

"…"

"My, my, I am sure this conversation ruined our appetite for a little bit…I suggest we wrap this up and wait for the speech by the patriarch. He should be on stage at any minute now." Lunaire then execute a perfect bow, an imitation that would make Sakuya proud. "I am sorry for my earlier rudely. Please don't take it to heart."

Before he could leave though, his surrounding darkened at once as the stage lit up. He took a side glance and saw the old man and a woman. Strangely, the spotlight only illuminated the woman. The ancient magician could only chuckle at the attempt to humble the unruly children and shook his head.

As if he noticed his stare, the patriarch turned to him and widened his eyes in surprise. It soon turned to a wry smile as Lunaire bored gesture registered on him. For a few seconds, the two came to lock their stares together, both trying to gauge each other. Seemingly satisfied, Kudou Retsu turned away to other participants.

* * *

Alice stood out, a lot. Not only her blond hair was quite eye-catching, but her appearance of a petite and cute lady was sure to draw some men to her. After a few steps away from Lunaire, Alice was approached by many to engage in small talks.

At first, she didn't mind too much. While slightly reserved, Alice had no problem talking to strangers. She was particularly comfortable around young children or scholars. Being a puppeteer for the children required a degree of social skills. However, it was long before the conversation started to grind on her nerves.

Unlike the benign small talks where both sides got to talk and discuss on leisure topics, all she got was people trying to shove their achievements and status down her throat. She enjoyed mindless topic over a cup of tea like anyone in Gensokyo. Even if the topic wasn't particularly interesting to her, like flower arrangement, she still found it a good topic to converse about and passed time.

On the other hand, she didn't care how high they ranked on the practical tests on their school. The blond would be slightly more receptive if any of the achievements they listed was worth something. They were a disgrace of a scholar like Lunaire had so often told her. She would be very happy if anyone of them could propose her a theory on which they could base their conversation on. Sadly, no one did.

Alice would frequently change her conversation partners, taking only their first sentence to determine whether they were good to talk to. As she went on, it was a little relieving that not everyone was too bad. Some were talking about their favorite cuisine or movies or sports. While Alice wasn't particularly well verse in any of the topics in the context of modern world, she still could follow along.

"You." An awfully tactless greeting if Alice was concerned, but she would humor it for a little.

"Good evening to you." Alice turned around to face the pair of boys in black red outfits. Her voice was a little strain from the mental stress suffered over the course of few minutes.

"Excuse my friend's rudeness. I'm Ichijou Masaki. This fellow is Kichijouji Shinkurou. You probably know him as Cardinal George. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" While his tone was smooth, it did not carry the same level of vanity as many she had heard that day.

"My name is Alice Margatroid. Please to meet you."

"It is quite rare to see a foreigner in Japan anymore. Most I have seen are around Okinawa."

"And here I am." Hearing a response from Alice, Shinkurou was lost on how to continue. It was perhaps his frank nature that made him a little abrasive.

Masaki was watching Alice's reaction with interest. The girl and her friend beside her stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone was watching them. The two foreigners were cladded in the uniform of the First High School, so there was no doubt that they were participants. They seemed to be together, so no one had the gall to split them. It wasn't long before they presented the opportunity to them. Alice over here got swarmed the moment she left.

In his eyes, Alice was an impeccably stable and prim lady. She carried herself with grace befitting person of high stature. It was certain that her upbringing wasn't run-in-the-mill type. However, unlike the stereotypical image of a high-born lady, Alice didn't seem to be overly easily impressed. She seemed almost apathetic to all attempt to approach her. By the way she looked around, she was bored.

In a way, he found Alice to be a little bit relatable as she seemed to have something that other people don't, like him and George. She might be a scholar and an intellectual. However, there was something about her that was more unnerving that a typical weak scholar.

"Cardinal George, is it? Quite an interesting name."

"You haven't heard of him. He was the one who proposed the Cardinal Codes Hypothesis?" It was Masaki's turn to blink. He thought she was a very capable scholar, so she must have heard of the famous thesis somewhere. Masaki wondered if he misjudged her.

"I am not sure I have heard about that hypothesis before. Can you please refresh my memory?" Alice tone was quite flat. It didn't tremble like in anger, but flatly analytical.

"Just where are you from to not hear about Cardinal Codes Hypothesis. It was the one that said that there are fundamental 16 types of magic sequences for Four Great Systems and Eight Major Types." The apparent ignorant on the girl part seemed to have rubbed Shinkurou wrongly.

"Oh…that one. The one that said that Cardinal Codes are the simplest magic sequences that defined variables such as speed and weight of the objects without specifying the altered phenomena." Alice paused and saw that Shinkurou nodded proudly. "This means that you can specify the force of 10 newtons acting on a body without specifying the phenomena that the object is knocked back. Am I correct so far?"

"Precisely, see, at least you know about it." Alice's statement seemed to calm him down somewhat.

"I am sorry. I didn't take the time to remember it as it has many glaring flaws enough to invalidate the hypothesis. I can agree that it would be desirable to know that magic can be broken down into 16 fundamental pieces, but that is a gross inaccuracy."

"What do you say?" It was as if the wind was knocked out of him as he forced his words out.

"I am saying that the hypothesis is invalid. While it might be true from simpler systems like speed/weight and movement/oscillation, it won't be applicable for dispersion/convergence and emission/absorption." Alice paused to see Shinkurou becoming more aggravated, but she soldiered on due to her academic nature that most wouldn't see too often. If someone couldn't take being proven wrong, then they should quit the academia. "You proposed the for 8 total types of magic, each has its own pair of opposite set of instruction. For speed type magic, there is acceleration in positive and negative direction. In weight, you have newtons and positive or negative. The same holds true for other system, correct?"

"Yeah, that is what I proposed?" Shinkurou suppressed his voice down as to retain a trace of civility. However, he clenched his fists and bit his molar.

"What you proposed suggested that there is one variable paired to each type of magic. Speed has acceleration. Weight has force. Movement has velocity. While oscillation was proposed to be governed by kinetic energy." The blond girl took a calm breath and stare straightforward. "However, what variable defines something as convergence?"

"I already written that I hypothesize that there must be a variable governing something for convergence. At least that was what the pattern suggested." The boy was pressed onto the defensive side the longer Alice presented her argument. She was not a simpleton that bashed on the nonexistent fault of the proposed paradigm from personal opinion, but a learned person hitting where it hurt.

"In short, you believe there is a mysterious unit of variable that was controlling convergence magic, but we still haven't discovered it yet?" Alice pressed.

"Yeah." Shinkurou answered succinctly as he felt his anger boiled off slightly and his rationality returned.

"Then consider this situation. Convergence magic can be used to bring together particles, like collecting smoke into a ball. Am I correct so far?"

"Of course."

"That is something that is related to velocity of the particles as you are changing the movement of smoke particulate. However, convergence magic also deals with density of object. Density is mass per volume. Density manipulating magic can be used on both gas, liquid and solid. This means that it works on mass, because volume cannot be manipulated in case of solid without expending tremendous amount of energy. This means that convergence magic manipulates mass of an object too, which fell somewhere in the weight-type magic."

"…"

"So, is there a single magic sequence that can define change in both mass and velocity at the same time. But wait, if it can define mass and velocity like Cardinal Codes for the previous weight and speed type, then the whole argument that there are 16 distinct codes crumbled as there are already duplicates."

"…"

The three went silent. No one could have expected such outcome. The two boys approached a girl because she was interesting. At the end, one boy was left shocked and the other devastated by the hand of the seemingly timid lady.

It was quite obvious that Shinkurou would take a big hit. The girl he just met a few minutes prior essentially destroyed the hypothesis he presented when he was thirteen. The hypothesis was something he poured his heart in from when he was young. To validate his hypothesis, he even managed to identify one of his Cardinal Codes for the weight type and applied it as his signature invisible bullet. Something he took years to build and 2 years being lauded for was essentially ripped apart by an unknown girl, nonchalantly in a blink of an eye. If he had no appearance to keep up, he would collapse on his knees at that moment.

On the side of Masaki, he was surprised. His eyes were wide open, but with his good training, he avoided making a scene of himself. He had a suspicion that he never told George. From pure gut feeling that his friend might dismiss, he doubted the validity of the Cardinal Codes Hypothesis. It might be because of his high affinity with magic that he felt that way, but he was now proven correct. Masaki never misjudged her. She was a cut above her peers and had long debunked the hypothesis long before, even if the whole magical community never could. It sent a chill up his spine for a little, knowing that a random girl he met at a banquet could do such thing so simply.

Before anyone could say anything more, as if the curtain was closing on the depressed Shinkurou, the lights died out…

* * *

Omake:

*Alice proved Shinkurou that his whole lifework is a mistake.*

"FINISH HIM!"

"I kind of suspected that a while back..." - Masaki

"FATALITY"

00000

The result of today's battle: Shinkurou's devastating lost

In the original Mahouka, Masaki suspected that the Hypothesis was wrong, while Tatsuya, being a hacking bastard that he is, knows that it is wrong. I might as well add some more to the club to knock Shinkurou down a peg.

Btw, both Masaki and Shinkurou didn't hold any special feeling for Alice. They just went to talk to her just because she looked like a foreigner. There is no harm, apart from the one Shinkurou suffered.


	47. Chapter 47: Night of Surprise

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Happy April Fool day.

The problem is that I don't like April Fool too much. It might be because I am too serious with my life. Therefore, I will not play any trick on you guys.

Update since the last time, I was getting a lot done. Before I know it, I finished up to chapter 49. The tough part is that now I have a backlog of editing I must be doing and filling in. Therefore, expect it soon.

You might dislike the slow pace of my story. however, this is the way this story will go. I have the plan out until the end of this arc already. However, you won't see the Touhou cast in action for at least 5 more chapters. To remind you, there is a time skip before the Nine School Competition started. Within that time, what happened to the rest of the casts. Sayaka grew into a strong and competent commander. What about the rest at Scarlet Devil Mansion?

00000

Kudou Retsu, while as old as he was, still enjoyed the act of tricking youngsters. Standing in the dark behind the stunning woman in the spotlight, he used a tiny magic to make his presence thinner. It was subtle, but powerful enough that almost none in the room noticed him.

He began to scan around the crowd, looking for people that were looking at him. What he didn't expect was that from the beginning, there was a few people already staring at him. He expected people to notice the woman first, not him right off the bat. Retsu still had his sense from the military, so he knew that he received quite several stares.

He leveled his eyes at one of the first youngster that stared at him and found his silver hair gleaming in the dark. The boy was shaking his head in boredom. Retsu had a feeling that it was directed at him, not his conversational partners. The man couldn't restrain the slight surprise from showing, both from the boy's foreign appearance and his antics. It was as if he could read everything Retsu had planned.

Retsu stared into the boy's eyes and founded quite unnatural blue irises. The old man didn't understand the feeling, but he felt he was read. It was as if he was back in his first military base he was stationed at. He felt inexperience when met with the glares from veterans. However, this youngster with a third his age gave him the same feeling. The old man couldn't have been more shocked.

Alas, he didn't have a chance to linger on for too long, so he broke the stare. Continued observing, he noticed quite a small minority coming to realize his existence. That wasn't strange. Who he was more interested in was like the first boy, a few that noticed his existence from the start.

One was a strange foreigner girl with blond hair. She looked over to the old man and smiled disarmingly like watching a child play his prank. Another one excellent magician from the first high, it seemed. However, outside of his wildest expectation, he spotted one girl in maid outfit staring at him from the corner of her eyes.

The girl was unassuming. She had black hair and topaz colored eyes. While the girl was quite cute in her maid outfit, she didn't stand out to most. On the other hand, Retsu found her to be very natural as a waitress, but also as a magician. Most would think that with the darkened hall, the maid would take a glance at the stage. But this girl simply continued walking around, doing her jobs without paying the stage any attention, overtly. Retsu knew she was watching him, seeing her side-glances. The waitress never turned her back at him either.

The old veteran wondered whether he was getting rusty, for a maid to notice him. However, he shook his head. If he was rusty, the whole room would have notice him. Still, as if adding insult to his injury, he spotted another blond girl looking at him. This late in the game, he would not be surprise if more noticed. It was just that the blond girl was wearing a kitchen uniform. It was as if she lost her interest as she turned away, shaking her head.

Quite done, he signaled quietly to the woman in front of him to step away. As Retsu went into the spotlight, the hall erupted in commotion, an expected reaction from his perspective.

"First of all, allow me to express my sincere apology for creating this subterfuge." Retsu's voice remained quite audible and powerful, considering his advance age. "This was just a small sideshow that was more like a magic trick than true magic, but based on my observations, only nine managed to see through this façade. In other word…if I am a terrorist planning to destroy you all and smuggle chemical weapons and explosives under the guise of a visitor, only nine would be able to deny me. That just how it is."

Retsu's tone didn't contain any reprimand, but made the whole venue still in silence. The old man wondered how much more shame would they feel if they knew that two of the nine was just a waitress and a kitchen worker.

"To our youth studying magic…Magic is a means. Magic itself is not the goal. I created this little game to remind everyone of this very point. The magic I used was large in scale, but low in strength. By the standard of magic, this wouldn't be anything but weak magic. Yet, everyone succumbed to this weak magic and couldn't discern my presence, despite knowing that I would appear…An appropriate used large magic cannot compare to a meticulously prepared and executed magic…"

The old man's speech ended with a thundering applause. Most felt the extent of Retsu's experience, except some…

* * *

"A cut above other…but not enough, boy." Lunaire mumbled.

Only a few may reach the pinnacle of magic. Those that do often come to a single conclusion. The study of magic is unending. Magic is both the means and the goal. To stated that magic is a means for the end is the thinking of a common man, very practical. There is nothing wrong with viewing magic as a simple tool. However, what will be the drive to further magic if all the goal in human life is finished. If you a soldier who use magic, your limit will only be a good magic soldier. Even if you reached the pinnacle of a soldier, all the goals you have accomplished are killing to protect. You could argue that from that point, they could switch to other goal of using magic.

However, those who don't appreciate the splendor of magic can only go so far. A good magician can do that. Only those who can view magic as both the goal and the means can be a great magician. It is the unending pursuit of knowledge that many couldn't wrap their head around. Learn more to know more. Know more to how to learn even more. Therefore, Ouroboros symbol can suit both alchemy and magic. The unending pursuit of knowledge marked the birth of true magician. Learning is both the beginning and the ending of magic.

In short, if they can't learn magic because they simply want to learn magic, they can't be a great magician. Still, as contradictory as it was, this was only the philosophy for standby mode. It can be said that great magicians, even a Youkai magician, still have priority higher than magic. Sure, if left alone, they will default to being a scholar, but depending on their values, touching someone they care about might result in…serious consequences.

Lunaire sighed as his mind ran around as Retsu gave his speech. At least the Patriarch of the modern magic community wasn't too bad. It was quite refreshing as all he heard from upper echelon of magic community was that bigger magic was better.

* * *

 _ **After the banquet**_

Alice didn't know how she ended up this way. It all started after she learned that this military hotel had an artificial Onsen. While bathing usually suffice, she had to admit that she missed the Onsen in Gensokyo. Therefore, right after their obligation to attend the banquet was over, she excused herself.

Alice perfectly expected some quiet time after spending the majority of the time during banquet being interrogated by Shinkurou. The boy was too confrontational and too emotional for his own good. The point still stood that his theory was unfounded. By the end, the boy seemed set to creating a theory that she couldn't disprove. To that, Alice said suit yourself. If he was capable of outputting something useful for the community, then all the better. He had the credit of trying.

Time went by slowly as Alice was almost lulled into sleeping, until they came. The rest of her teammates from First High came in.

"Oh Alice, you are in. You don't mind we joining in?"

"Hello, everyone. I don't mind, go ahead." Alice replied to the girl named Satomi Subaru. She had to admit, no matter how many times she heard her, Subaru sounded like a young man.

"Alright…You are here before us. Do you like Onsen?"

"It's nostalgic."

"Is that so…"

"Kya!"

While Subaru and Alice were having their little side conversation, they seemed to neglect the main crowd. For some reasons, the girls who came with Subaru were making a commotion. They turned toward them and found Akechi Eimi groping Honoka.

At the sight, Subaru could only sigh while Alice smiled warmly. Alice wasn't going to join at any rate, but she didn't mind them having fun.

The commotion died down with Miyuki's entry. Alice had to admit it that Miyuki had quite a figure. However, she was far from being affecting by mere appearance, so she kept her wit.

The ensuing chaos would make Alice tuned herself out. She wasn't particularly close with any of them, so she was content with not being addressed. Her schoolmates talked about topics that she didn't particularly care helped too.

Letting the hot water soaked in, Alice raised her hands up. Seeing the dark rings around her fingers comforted her. Living outside the mansion, she didn't have too much chance to manipulate her dolls. For some reason, she felt quite empty without her crews of doll companions. In their housing in the city, she only had her Shanghai, Hourai and other named dolls with her. The marks on her hands were the symbols of her connection with the dolls, so she often looked at them to remember the rest that she kept back in the mansion and her now unreachable house.

"Alice-san, is something the matter?"

"Yes? Amy?" Alice addressed the girl with the remarkable red hair that closed in. The red-haired girl was Akechi Eimi who was on a crusade to make everyone call her by her nickname, Amy.

"No, we asked you a question and you seemed to be dazing out." The girl who closed in smiled widely, emphasizing her childish charm.

"My apology, what was the question?" Alice propped herself upright.

"Ah well…you don't have to answer if you don't want. Actually, never mind, you already have Lunaire-kun, so why am I even asking you that?" Amy scratched her cheek and didn't meet Alice's eyes. She had to admit though that seeing a European descent girl like this made her a little envious of her stunning green eyes.

"No worry, ask away." The blond girl adjusted her position so she could look straight at the energetic girl.

"What do you mean?"

"I was asking you about Masaki from Third High, seeing that you talked to him. However, since you already had Lunaire-kun, it might not be the best to ask a girl with boyfriend that opinion." Amy laughed dryly, while blushing slightly.

"There is nothing between Lunaire and me though."

"That's why…What?" The little girl froze.

"I am not in a relationship with Lunaire."

"What? Even if you guys are stuck at the hips like that?"

"Our relationship is quite platonic. We have common interests. We have been through a lot together, so it is not strange for us to understand each other quite well."

"Wow, that just sounded like an enviable relationship, seeing that Lunaire is a looker." Subaru chimed in.

"Are you sure? I think Lunaire seems to favor you quite a lot. This goes to you too." Amy closed in and made a Cheshire grin.

"Whatever you say…As for Masaki, I…don't really like him." Alice didn't give in and simply changed the topic.

"Wait what? He looked pretty hot." It was quite easy distracting them, given the shock she gave them from her dismissive statement.

"He is quite average. After talking to him, he seemed to be rather unremarkable and a little vain."

"Wow, harsh, why is that?" Subaru leaned in, latched on to Alice's word.

"He seemed to be quite used to being the center of attention that he looked down on other people a little. Well, he is the heir of the Ten Master Clan after all."

"…"

"Is something the matter?"

"Alice-san is…quite mature." Amy smiled awkwardly.

"Thank you, being near Lunaire makes you good at reading people."

"He is good a reading people?" It was Miyuki's turn to ask.

"Quite so…"

"Maybe I should consider mentoring under him." The girls laughed. "What about the boy with Masaki, you seemed to talk with him quite a lot."

"He…can't take the fall too well. I will go as far as to say that he is quite arrogant, seeing that he is the Cardinal George who proposed the Cardinal Codes hypothesis." Alice squeezed down on her temple. "I debunked his theory, so he was quite forceful when defending thesis. In the end, we parted on a not so good term."

"…You debunked Cardinal Codes? The one that was so famous?" Miyuki and Shizuku's eyes widened. While many have heard about the hypothesis itself, only those in the field would bother to read about it in detail. Miyuki and Shizuku were the exceptions that knew quite a bit about the theoretical side of magic, despite being in the first year. Otherwise, they would not be able to grasp the magnitude of the act of ripping apart hypothesis like Cardinal Codes.

"Yes, even if it is famous, it doesn't mean that it is infallible." The blond magician sight and stared at the ceiling. "He was quite invested in it, so he didn't quite remember that, by the end of the day, it is just a hypothesis without a definite proof."

"Wow, that must have hit him hard."

"Agreed." Shizuku joined.

"It is knowledge after all. It is only worth it if it is correct." Alice replied flatly.

"Still it is quite impressive to be able to debunk it." That was an understatement, Shizuku wanted to quip, but didn't. The international magic community was unable to disprove it and the effort of a single girl was all it took. She believed that Alice and Lunaire were tanking their scores, but she didn't expect them to be this sharp.

"Thank you."

"Anyway, back to the original topic. What is the type of man you like?"

"I…don't really know actually. Only when the time comes…"

"Aww, no fun. Alice is cold. We have known each other for weeks and we still don't know anything about you. Every time I see you, Lunaire is always around, so we haven't got any chance to talk to you."

"It seems that this is your chance. It is not like Lunaire is going to bust in here and join us, isn't it? Amy?" Alice giggled. It was like Amy said, she didn't have a chance to grow closer to any other contestants.

* * *

 _ **A few hours later**_

Taking the advice of Isori-senpai, Tatsuya decided to call it a day. He was an engineer responsible for the first-year female contestants, who would compete on the fourth day. It wouldn't do to rush all his work when the competition didn't even start yet.

However, Tatsuya didn't see the need to turn in for the day yet. The midsummer night was warm, perfect for a stroll. Perhaps, that was for the best as he noticed nervous presences not long after.

The boy didn't like leaving them alone, so he linked to the information dimension through his signature elemental sight. The result didn't disappoint.

Three men in camouflage near a military hotel was suspicious enough. The fact that they all carried handguns and explosive devices didn't help. No matter what their motive was, Tatsuya wasn't going to wait to find out. He wondered though, because for some reason, these people managed to penetrate the perimeter of this hotel that was under military jurisdiction.

Without a CAD on him, Tatsuya didn't care and soundlessly began sprinting. All the while, he was scanning the area frequently with his elemental sight.

His sense captured another ally approaching the suspicious individuals. Apparently, Mikihiko also noticed the intruders and was going to intercept them. His sneaking ability and speed were not too inferior to Tatsuya's own, but Mikihiko would run into the intruders first. To support his friend if something was to go wrong, he began to construct his specialized magic.

However, everything didn't go as planned. Out of blue, Tatsuya detected an information body of an object flying down from above. Due to the abruptness, he couldn't quite pinpoint the nature of the object.

As he trained the focus on the object, he felt the magic sequences being constructed around the object, which made him realized that the falling object was a magician. What boggled his mind was that this magician was above him, around the ninth floor of the hotel and falling. Tatsuya had to commend the person for their bravery to leap out from the hotel down to intercept the hapless fools.

Tatsuya quickly processed the information he saw from a bird-eye view. Mikihiko was prepping his ancient magic with his talismans. If he was not wrong, it was a spirit magic derived from a family of Thunder Child spell. That was not too interesting. As for the magician in free fall, the modern magic of gradual deceleration was a no-brainer. She needed that or else she would plummet to her death. However, she also went on to rapidly completed an emission type spell to rain down bolt of electricity. The speed she did so made Tatsuya thought that the magician had to be very skilled. Until, he realized that the figure belonged to someone he knew pretty well.

He almost thought that he was seeing things. There was no way Mizuki would do something as daring as jumping from a tall hotel to ambush someone. While her magical power shouldn't be high at all, that wasn't the problem. Tatsuya admitted that he could probably do the same thing with poor technical skills. The fall time was long enough for him to adequately construct some magic sequence. However, to execute such maneuver even with poor technical skills required a good assessment of their own ability and most importantly a nerve of steel. From the time he knew Mizuki, she didn't seem to possess any of those qualities.

Stranger thing was the magic sequence she constructed. It was constructed quite rapidly. Far too quickly for someone of Mizuki's caliber. It wasn't as if he was looking down on his peer, but he based his thinking on his observations. Peering through the information body, he tried to look for anything that would explain Mizuki's boost in magical ability.

Everything happened quickly when he wasn't looking. Mikihiko threw out his talismans that glowed eerily yellow. When that happened, the intruders didn't sit still either and pointed their firearms at the boy. It wasn't strange. While Mikihiko got a jump on the men, his magic was too slow. That lost time was plenty for the men to pull the trigger.

Everyone present heard a bang, not from the firearms though, but from flashes of lighting that downed all the intruders. Mikihiko look at his talismans curiously, wondered whether it completed its job quicker than expected. Tatsuya knew better as the talismans discharged its power a moment later. The first lighting came from the figure above them.

Mikihiko froze when a person landed in front of him out of nowhere.

"Who?!" Mikihiko was spooked and yelled.

The figure didn't respond, but approached the fallen men and kicked their hands. The act sent their firearms out of their grasps.

"Are you alright, Yoshida-kun?"

"Shibata-san?" Mikihiko was gob smacked as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Yes, and it seems you are here too, Tatsuya-san."

"You caught on quick." Tatsuya eyed the girl intently. She shrugged and bent down for the guns.

Tatsuya who arrived at the scene was surprised beyond words now. He saw the meek girl jumped from a window to ambush and disarm fully-grown men. As if that wasn't enough, she continued to pick up and unloaded the gun, pocketing the magazine and emptying the chambers. A sensible action, but it was not something a schoolgirl would know how to do, not with such efficiency. He had to reevaluate the capability of the girl once more, knowing that he grossly underestimated her the first time.

"What are you doing Shibata-san?"

"Unloading their weapons, we don't want them getting any ideas. Tatsuya-san, can you call for help?"

"…Very well." It was quite obvious to Tatsuya that she intended to avoid questions and he didn't see the reason to keep on pressing now, so he turned and left toward the hotel.

Another side that the two boys didn't expect from the meek girl. While socializing with them, Mizuki still had the soft and fluffy side she had when she was younger. However, from her education at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she also had a no-nonsense side that she occasionally showed. Anyone who haven't saw this side of her before would be surprise.

Throughout the exchange, Mikihiko watched carefully. Mizuki was becoming an increasingly larger enigma from him. He knew her as a cute meek girl that was easily pressured and embarrassed. There was no way the boy would have expected such girl to act so decisively. After all, he couldn't even detect a hint of this side from any of their earlier interactions. He decided that the time was right to probe a little.

* * *

"Shibata-san…what is with that a second ago?"

"What's about it." Mizuki's tone was leveled. However, as soon as she finished saying so, her lips started to move exaggeratingly.

Mikihiko was confused before realizing that she wanted him to read her lips. It was then that he realized that someone was listening in on them.

"Someone is listening?!" The words the boy blurted out made Mizuki have an urge to clutch her forehead. What would be the point of telling him silently if the next moment he said it out loud? The boy seemed to realize it a moment too late as he rushed to cover his mouth.

Mizuki could only shake her head at that. No matter, the presence did not seem to belong to an enemy. Tatsuya seemed to be meeting up with that presence anyway. Since there was no way that their classmate was involved with these intruder, Mizuki could only assume that the presence belonged to friendly.

"Let's just keep watch on them."

Mizuki's posture soften. Her hand parted from the input keys on her bracelets CAD, but poised to press it if anything happened. The girl adjusted her glasses and blinked. After a sharp exhale, an amiable atmosphere returned to Mizuki. The ditzy and soft atmosphere that enveloped her made her earlier intense expression a lie.

The boy that witnessed such change squinted. Among the list of things that shouldn't happen, Mizuki jumping in and struck down armed men was probably pretty high up.

* * *

"Not bad, to realize I was listening in even when Tatsuya couldn't. It seems that our Special Lieutenant has quite remarkable classmates…" A man appearing to be in his mid-forties mumbled.

While the man was in an informal outfit, most would not mistake him for a civilian. His face wasn't particularly intense, but wasn't too lax either. However, the scars on his face and arms belied his military career.

His eyes twitched toward a figure that vaulted across the railing. The old man smiled and called out."

"Special Lieutenant, it's a good night, isn't it?"

"Major, you are here." The younger boy's voice betrayed a hint of surprise.

Major Kazama Harunobu used to be the students under Yakumo, a good one at that. With more years of experience under his pocket, it wasn't strange for Tatsuya to be hard pressed to detect the man, at least without the assistance of elemental sight.

"Indeed. It seems that you have quite a good classmate. She seems to be quite an astute individual."

"Who do you refer to?" Tatsuya's interest was piqued by the way that Kazama pinpointed a girl out.

"I don't know her name, but she is probably the only girl you talked to in the past few seconds."

"Mizuki?"

"She is quite sharp to catch me listening in. Well, if not for her friend blurting out, I wouldn't even know that she knew I was listening. That takes some skill."

"She caught on to your presence?" Tatsuya didn't know how many more times he would be surprised this night. His logical mind ran a mile a minute, searching for any hints about Mizuki. He was even questioning whether he lost his touch at reading people, because Mizuki never showed any sign that she was capable for any of such feats. Whether it was taking down armed men without batting an eyelid or sensing the man, lauded to be Yakumo's second best student, each one of them deserved a great level of recognition. Still, Mizuki could not evoke any other image than a normal school girl.

"I think so?"

"…Anyway Major, can I trust you to take care of the intruders?"

"Sure, I will call some men over. Just to be sure, you go back and take them away when my men arrive."

"Understood."

00000

And there you go, another chapter down for the count.

What do you think about the change in the storyline that I made? Now, both the members from Ten Master Clan (Kudou Retsu) and the military (Major Kazama Harunobu) grew interested in some members of the Touhou side. Tell me what do you think will become of this yah?

I hope you like the story. If you have any suggestion, comment or words of encouragement, please leave a review.


	48. Chapter 48: Late Night Snack

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

You might want to ask why I am skipping 2 days of competition just like that. The answer is that nothing really happened during that time. Mayumi won both her competition. Mari dominate the preliminary of Battle Board. I don't really want to change the beginning of competition all that much.

However, the situation will start to kick off after I get a few updates on Touhou character during this period first.

00000

 _ **Competition Day 2, Night**_

It was a boring day for Lunaire. The first two days of the competition went by as planned. He expected it, but the fact that those favored to win did won was too predictable. Still, this might be because the sense of disconnection he felt. After all, he didn't feel affiliated with First High team all that much.

It was a different in perspective. From the player perspective, seeing their team winning in a landslide was a good boost the morale. From critical audience like Lunaire, he felt that it was too predictable, thus boring. It would be much more enjoyable for him to see close matches. However, that was not going to happen as each school deployed their aces to ensure that they dominated certain competition.

It was almost disgusting if he looks back. Players from famous clans usually equaled instant victory. Saegusa Mayumi, from the Saegusa clan, dominated Speed Shooting and Crowd Ball. Chiyoda Kanon predictably dominated in the preliminary of Pillar Break. The exception to this rule would be Mari from Watanabe family. Her family didn't particularly excel at magic, but well-known. Still, Mari dominated the preliminary for Battle Board.

Lunaire wasn't going to criticize them for their lack of skills. They had skills worth their salt. Their spell works were alright with some brute forcing here and there. It was not as if Lunaire himself was guiltless of using sheer magical might to settle business. He didn't even have any problem with them coming from famous family, but was irritated by the fact that there was no one to oppose them. Everyone just keeled down simply.

Lunaire grumbled as he made his way to the hotel lounge, silently grateful for its late operation time. The lounge had a café that was open 24 hours. This was after all a military hotel. The top brass designing the place probably saw the significance of late hours to veterans. The World War III was a particularly vicious war and many veterans suffered different degree of psychological damage, prominently PTSD and survivor's guilt. Even those who survived with their minds intact, they often find the silence of the night to be comforting.

While Lunaire didn't need his alone time at night for the same reason as veterans, even if he had seen countless bloodshed, the magician still considered himself a night owl. The Youkai magician didn't need too much sleep. But, they are quite like human in the fact that they sometimes like to stay up late reading and become slightly grumpy if sleep deprived. Each has their own preference. In the case of Lunaire, he loved the late hours.

It would be perfect if he had a book, but there was none in his interest range that was safe to read in public. Not that he was too keen on erotica, but reading and old dusty tomes in a hotel lounge was a recipe for interrogation if there was ever one.

When he arrived, his light footsteps seemed to have alerted a student slouching on the sofa. Upon closer inspection, the black-haired boy simply glances toward Lunaire before looking down again. His hands were clasped together as if in prayer. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that Takeaki was devastated to be eliminated in the second round from Crowd Ball.

Normally, Lunaire would simply walk by without saying anything. It was their own business to sort out their own defeat. Since Takeaki was someone who knows the taste of defeat, Lunaire wasn't too concerned that he would snap. However, due to a small impulse, he decided to help him out a little. After all, he was probably the only one who gave a worthy and interesting fight in the whole day of competition.

"Thanks for your hard work, Kirihara-senpai."

"Is that a sarcasm?" Takeaki's tone didn't hold particular bite. If he was offended by the comment, he didn't show it. Rather, he seemed baffled that Lunaire would strike up a conversation with him.

"No?"

"I wonder why there is a question mark attached, but whatever. I did work hard, but still got eliminated anyway early in the second round."

"You are just unlucky to draw the ace from Third High. He was favored to win in this competition. Yet, you managed to lose to him by meager 8 points." Lunaire paused when he heard a groan from Takeaki, who slouched down even further. "Further, your struggle with him was long enough to exhaust him and make him lost in the third round. I like that style."

"What style?"

"If you can't beat them, make sure to take them down with you."

"…"

The silence suffused between them. Lunaire remained smiling, waiting for any sort of response. After a few more seconds, a laughter burst out. His upperclassmen clutched his stomach and laughed as if his life depended on it.

"You are a devious guy. You know that?"

"Call it strategically keen, will you?"

"Certainly, certainly! But man, you were blunt." Takeaki speech were slightly impaired as he continued to laugh. "You never thought I would be depressed?"

"I did, that is why I called out."

"What a guy, what a guy. You know, normally you would just walk by and pretending not to see me."

"Normality is overrated. Also, this is to repay you for putting on a good show. That whole competition was quite boring in my mind."

"What do you mean?"

"Who was favored to win, did won, except for male Crowd Ball." Lunaire slapped his hand on Takeaki's shoulder. Normally, it would be quite unruly act toward senior, but Takeaki shouldn't mind. "On that one, the favored Third High ace bit the dust, yah?"

That prompted another round of merry laughter from both. Good thing that the lounge wasn't too occupied, so not many were offended by their boisterousness.

"Well, now it's time for my late tea time. I wonder if they have good cheesecake here."

"Oh, how posh."

"I'm British-bred after all."

* * *

When he approached the café surrounded by clear glass panes, one of the automatic door slid opened silently. A soft vanilla scent greeted him. While a café in a military hotel wouldn't use anything like essential oil, the smell of bakery still clung in the air.

While not heavily decorated, fake plants and woody interior made the café aesthetically pleasing. Lunaire could not help but wonder whether their baked goods would be up to par. Before he could inspect the menu though, he caught sight of a girl sitting on one of the chairs. In front of her was a piece of cake that seemed to have been stabbed a few times to many as the person was spacing out.

"Oh prez, you are here? Congratulation, you aced all your competition." Lunaire approached the Mayumi of his own accord. Something that did not happen very often. "Is the seat occupied?"

"…No?" Mayumi stared owlishly. Perhaps the fact that Lunaire approached her was too shocking as most of the time he avoided her like plague. The pair of garnet eyes squinted, trying to read into his intention.

"Then excuse me for a second."

Lunaire turned, leaving Mayumi slightly more confused. There was no particular meaning to this action as he simply went ordered some cheesecake and tea at the counter.

"Sorry for the wait." Lunaire set his porcelains down. "So, what is the matter?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is there something on your mind? Your cake doesn't even look like a cake anymore." A glance at the glob of cream on Mayumi would tell the story.

The girl didn't even seem to realize this herself as she looked and cleared her throat. Her face was few shades brighter. Not many caught her off guard like this, except few of her closest friends in the student council. After collecting herself, she glared at Lunaire and puffing her cheek slightly.

"Me?" With a fork in hand, Lunaire pointed at himself.

"Yes, you!" Mayumi pointed her hand, still holding a fork, accusingly at him.

"Nya?"

"…Are you messing with me?"

"What if I am?" At this point, Mayumi was trembling in her seat. A bit more push and she would be growling from annoyance. "On a serious note, what about me?"

"Everything!"

"That doesn't help anything. Are you falling for me or something? You don't simply want to know everything about me." He chomped down on the cheesecake he roughly cut with his fork. That action seemed to make him forgot about the topic at hand. "They bake good cake." Not as good as Sakuya's, but it would do.

"Don't change the topic." She exhaled sharply. "Did you forget what you said to me at the party?"

"Oh that, are you offended? I am sorry."

"That's not the point."

At this point, Lunaire exasperatingly lifted his tea cup and almost slurped. He spent the last century drinking green tea made the habit stuck. While he knew his manner about different type of tea, he would slip up if his mind was preoccupied or strained.

"Fine, fine, take this as a special service. I won't usually talk, but since you managed to catch me on a fine night with good dessert." The teacup clanked loudly as it hit the saucer. "Let's play a game."

"A game?" Her voice rose a pitch incredulously.

"However, before that, I have a question for you."

"I am listening."

"You can choose to answer it or not. You can tell the truth or lie, your choice. But take note that your decision will affect the game that come after." His sharp blue eyes trained on the girl, causing her own scarlet pairs to falter for split second. "Deal?"

"…Deal." The girl's eyes wandered around as her mind ran. While she had misgiving about the question and game that her junior had planned for her, it was the closest shot she had ever gotten to making any headway.

Without caring that her face was under close inspection, Mayumi shook her head vigorously. Lunaire had to note that she acted like a child psyching themselves up.

"Alright then. I have only one question. Why do you want to know about me? When we first met, you weren't this keen at finding out. Your effort started to become rather annoying, so I think I have the right to know."

"That…"

"As I said, you may choose to answer or not."

"…Please don't laugh alright." Mayumi put down her fork and clutched the hem of her skirt, failing to meet Lunaire's inquisitive eyes.

"Try me." He winked and earned himself an intense glare.

Even with the benefit of hindsight, Mayumi didn't know what compelled her to talk. She almost wanted to retort that telling him that would defeat the purpose of investigating him. She debated with herself for a few seconds that seemed like hours. Over that period, Lunaire eyes never left her. Strangely enough, he was still perfectly capable of spearing his cheesecake without looking.

"It started after the whole ordeal with the public forum earlier in the year…" She inhaled sharply and decided to go for it. Women need to be courageous, she thought. After a long time of deliberation, this action might be impulsive, but her gut feeling told her that it was best to come clean.

"The one about equality?"

"Yes, that one."

"Go on." Lunaire smiled with glee, like a child who finally got the toy he wanted. Mayumi could almost hear to giggle in the air.

"I don't really know why, but Mari and I had the suspicion that something would go wrong." She glanced down, appearing to be focusing at nothing. Her frown deepened as she went along. "We…have information about certain…dangerous presence in the school" Lunaire noted the rather long pause to be Mayumi choosing her wording. It didn't matter anyway as he knew perfectly well what the dangerous presence was. "In the end, nothing happened, but you acted awfully suspicious you know. You were grinning. You should see your own expression back then. How could I not feel suspicious by that?" At the end as if she was incensed, her words burst out like a torrent. Her finger jabbed out toward his face, so quickly that he could almost hear the snap.

"That's it?" The magician tilted his head quizzically, concealing the turmoil inside. He berated himself for letting his intention slipped so easily in public setting. Still, he could not have guess that Mayumi would be watching him in the auditorium.

"…"

"Gut feeling? That's why you kept stalking on me."

"I am not stalking."

The dam broke. Lunaire could not contain his laughter. Who would have thought? Out of all the people she could have looked at in the auditorium, she picked him at the wrong time. He loved the world and its conspiracy-worthy level of coincidence. Even an ageless magician like him wasn't immune when the universe decided that it was bored.

It was fortunate that they were the only customers left in the café. However, even the employees glanced over to see Lunaire bent over, clutching his stomach and struggling to breath. When the laughter finally subsided, the boy wiped the tear off the corners of his eyes.

"So! I answered you question. And you said you wouldn't laugh!" As Lunaire was laughing, Mayumi's blush deepened as she pouted. Unlike the act she usually put out to fluster other students, her glare belied her genuine embarrassment. After all, not many would pursue the matter of someone grinning at the wrong place and time.

"Forgive me. I thought I went through a lot of trouble for something as meager as this." Lunaire waved his hands, while wearing an apologetic face. "Anyway, we better get to the game, or else we would be stuck here all night." After a sip of tea though, he was back in business. His face now leveled off to a neutral smile, but his eyes gleamed with interest for what to come.

"Hmph!"

"The game we will be playing today doesn't have a name. You get to ask me a question. Any question is a fair game." As if the world stopped making sense, Mayumi's eyes widen. Peering into his crystal-clear eyes, she leaned from side to side, trying to inspect him. "If I decided that I am comfortable answering it, I will do so. If you get the answer, you get to ask another question. However, if you push your question to far and I decided that I am no longer comfortable, the game is over. Simple enough?"

"But you can simply shut me out from the first question and how am I supposed to know what is alright to ask?"

"That requires a healthy amount of common sense. Begin! Ask away!"

"Grr, Fine! Be that way!" For the umpteenth time, she puffed her cheeks. "Why cheesecake?"

Inside, she was ticked off. It was as if he was berating her for having no common sense. So, if he really wanted to play with common sense, she wanted to see how he deal with unrelated question. Nothing could go wrong from asking that question and it probably would make him stumble.

"I used to hate it. However, after staying up late and craving sugar in the process, I have eaten it so much that I grew to like it. Funny story isn't it."

"Eh?" It seemed that it was Mayumi who stumbled. The answer she was given was smooth as if rehearsed. However, the casual wave and soft content smile indicated otherwise.

"Next question."

"Ah, yes…um…"

"I can stay up all night if you want, but you sure you can stay awake tomorrow?"

"Why are you up so late?" She glared again at the cheeky underclassman and spat out the question.

"I think it is because I usually spent a lot of time at night reading. It since became a habit that I can't kill. The game is still on. Keep the question coming."

"You read? No, more like what kind of books do you read? You seem awfully knowledgeable."

"I enjoy many genres of books for pleasure reading. However, most books on my list are for satisfying my curiosity. You could say a bulk of the reading I have done is from academic documents."

"Then…there is no way that you didn't take your theoretical exam score, right? If you read a lot, the first-year exam should have been a breeze."

"Ah! I am busted." Oh, what she would not do to wipe the grin of his face. Just you wait, she swore.

Over the better part of the night, Mayumi didn't disappoint. She didn't tread on any landmines. Perhaps because of the sense of achievement or curiosity, knowing that she could keep on asking compelled her to generate more questions. Due to their minimal contact, Mayumi never had a lengthy talk with Lunaire before as he was capable of eluding her grasp.

Topics ranged from books, food and hobby. Before the girl knew it, their game degenerated into small talks as Mayumi couldn't even remember her primary objective to gather information. Toward the end, Lunaire could glean some details about her personality as he started to give questions of his own.

Lunaire had to admit, that it was a very pleasant way to spend time. Alas, after few hours, he suggested that they should turn in for the night. To make it to the breakfast, they could only scrape by a few hours at max, so they decided to part way.

Overall, Lunaire accomplished his objective. He learned of the trigger that set off Mayumi on his track and got her off his case. On the other hand, Mayumi felt that she just met someone new. The enigma that she spent months trying to crack was partially, but satisfyingly resolved. Still, it only served to reveal more mysteries that she wanted to know. Luckily, Lunaire tacitly told her that the game was far from over.

00000

And there you go.

This chapter is not to say that Lunaire falling for Mayumi is a go. This is just a tactic that Lunaire used to distract and lower suspicion. He got the info that he wanted in the beginning and Mayumi won't be as nosy for a bonus.

As for the thing with Kirihara, I want to build respect between him and Lunaire up, bit by bit. It won't come into any significant effect until during the Yokohama Disturbance. He will be there in the crossfire too. However, that will be long off. I assure you that Yokohama Disturbance will be a blast, muwahaha.


	49. Chapter 49: Mizuki Strikes Again

Hello, ITalkToSky Here.

This chapter is still about the same night as the previous. It is quite a long chapter where Mizuki can demonstrate her ability to her heart's content. Enjoy.

00000

 _ **The Same Night, Tatsuya's room**_

"Onii-sama, is this a good time?"

At his sister's beckon, he pushed the door open and invited everyone in. Honoka, Shizuku, Mizuki, Leo and finally Mikihiko filed in to the room, making it a little bit cramped. Since Tatsuya finished his technician work for the day, he didn't mind a friendly meeting.

Without enough space to sit on, Erika opted to sit on one of the table and noticed the device that Tatsuya ordered in.

"Tatsuya-kun, is that a blade replica? Except, it looked more like a sword?

"Negative."

"Then an iron whip?"

"Also negative…I don't think the Samurai of this country would use an iron whip."

"Who used the term Samurai in this day and age." The red-haired girl flipped the object around, inspecting from different angle. Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed the trigger on the hilt. "Is it what I think it is?"

"Correct, to be precise, this is a weaponized integrated CAD, commonly known as weaponized calculation device. It is attuned to only a single spell and can double as close combat weapon."

"Wow."

Everyone in the room gazed at the object with interest, especially Erika who had never seen a device shaped like a sword. Miyuki held an understanding eyes as she remembered the conversation about the sequences that Tatsuya was tinkered with.

There would be only one exception to the excitement, which Tatsuya noticed promptly.

"Is there a problem, Mizuki."

"Ah, nothing. Can I take a look?"

"Sure." Tatsuya replied as he took the device from Erika hand, who seemed to want to inspect further.

Mizuki received the device under the surprised eyes of the surrounding that didn't expect Mizuki to have any interest in such object. However, Tatsuya only watch her with his steely eyes.

Mizuki held the blade out horizontally, perpendicularly. The girl looked to her left and saw that no one was around and clasped her finger on the trigger. This prompted Tatsuya to be alert and said "wait." Still she pressed it anyway.

Tatsuya didn't do anything further to stop her, because there was no way that magic from a CAD could activate accidentally. CAD provided the blueprint for magic, which the magician needs to input the variables to manipulate themselves. If they don't know what to input, then the spell would fizzle out.

The sublime red-tinged light shone. While everyone was slightly baffled, Tatsuya was even more so as the light didn't fizzle out as he thought. It continued shinning dimly for a few seconds before half of the sword detached and flew out. The result was that the detached blade, hung in the air a meter away from the hilt.

When the light was shining, the device was function as intended, outputting psionic activation sequence to Mizuki's magic calculation area. Since the device could only output one type of spell, Mizuki thought that she could decipher the content of the activation sequence on her own. She was, by no mean, similar to Tatsuya who could understand the activation sequence visually. However, she absorbed the sequence in to her brain, as with the typical process, so she could manually inspect its power. The result she came up with was that the spell was convergence-type reinforcement spell that fixes the coordinate of hilt and the detached blade. It was quite neat as she could levitate half of the blade and fix its coordinate relative to the hilt, essentially making a flying blade.

"Hmm?" Mizuki didn't swing the now detached sword around, but seemed to try and balance it on her two hands. It wasn't an endearing gesture of trying to lift too heavy object, her moves seemed to be calculated as she continued to inspect the sword.

"I…am surprise that you could activate it the first-time round. However, I suggest that you don't activate the device you are not used to handling." Tatsuya chided, but his eyes remained rounded. He didn't think that Mizuki would be so sharp as to discern the function of his device on her own. His periwinkle eyes trained in on her, searching for any clues.

"I am sorry, Tatsuya-san." Mizuki apologized, but continued to maintain the magic. "Since you said this is a weaponized integrated CAD, I figured that I understand its function enough to attempt to decipher the activation sequence on my own."

"You can do that?" Erika burst out.

"Yes, if you understand the theory behind it, you can inspect it to your liking with no risk of misfire." Mizuki replied as a matter of fact.

"Hoh, that is quite the skill to have." At the mention, Tatsuya eyes narrowed and displayed a hidden, dangerous glint.

At this point, Tatsuya panicked. How could he be so complacent as to let such an element around him? Over the past few days, he felt as if Mizuki was a stranger. She had never shown him any of this talent in their classroom. Tatsuya watched with cold calculating eyes, wondering if Mizuki had the same power as him. If that was so, then he was in deep trouble. Her hypersensitivity to pushion emission was bad enough. If she also had the elemental sight, his secret would be clear to her as day. He had to find out and if she really knew…

"It is just a practical application of magical theory. I cannot visually recognize the activation sequence of the spell by mere sight. However, if I absorbed it, then it is different matter."

"That is quite a reckless move. An untuned device can cause mental strain when in dissonance with the user." Tatsuya continued his admonishment, but his eyes softened considerably. He sighed in relief as Mizuki didn't seem to possess elemental sight like he does, so his aunt shouldn't be involved.

"I am quite aware of that, but I take safety measures." Mizuki smiled wryly as she let go of the trigger, causing the blade to retract and click into its place. "Again, I am sorry for messing with your device."

"It's quite alright. Please be careful. Still, do you have any comment as my first tester."

"Ah, Ah, Test. Hello, Earth to the two of you, what are you talking about?"

"Yes, Erika?"

"I don't understand what is going on." Erika reflected the sentiment of the majority in the room.

"Erika-chan, it is quite simple. Theoretically, when one casts magic, the activation sequence is provided by the CAD, correct?"

"Yep, no question there." Erika chimed.

"And that activation sequence is fed into the magic calculation area in your brain to be constructed into magic ritual that can affect the world." Mizuki rolled the blade in her hand, continuing to inspect for something. "This meant that the brain has to be able to input the variable into the spell work the complete the product. If the brain doesn't know what the activation sequence is about, then it will fizzle out."

"However, this is not always true. The reason that unknown activation sequence will usually fizzle out is because when the brain cannot understand it, the sequence is usually ignored and discarded." Tatsuya added plainly, but his eyes lit up in fascination. "However, there is a way to override this tendency, by trying to figure out the activation sequence content. Instead of throwing the sequence away, you try to figure it out. Normally, no one would do this because it typically takes several seconds, longer than even the most incompetent magician to complete. Therefore, nobody bothered to record the technique down as no magician will try to use CAD containing unknown magic anyway."

"So, that is what Mizuki meant by absorbing it in and reading it, right?" Erika leaned back.

"Precisely."

The atmosphere of the room became quite awkward. It was not strange for the topic to alienate most audience. The people presented didn't particularly excel in the field of theoretical magic. Only Tatsuya, a prodigy, could naturally understand Mizuki's explanation without needing elaboration. Even Mikihiko and Shizuku who knew well the theory of magic, based on their exams, were quite baffled that such feat was possible in the first place.

"Still, that begs the question. How do you know of this technique in the first place? I don't believe that there was any instruction around. And why did you bother to learn it in the first place? Identifying unknown sequence through direct use seems to be quite a narrow niche." Tatsuya probed, his eyes calculating.

"Marisa taught me that. It seems that she worked that out from the theory and tested it out. She said that it was useful for safety." Mizuki answered off-handedly.

"Marisa? And Safety? How is that related to safety?"

"Well, it is usually unrelated to me, because of the usual way I cast magic. However, for certain spell, it is better safe than sorry."

"Elaborate?"

"Normally, my CAD contains very basic magic. This meant that I take longer to cast them for increased versatility. For example, acceleration altering magic can be used to both increase or decrease velocity. Depending on the sign, magnitude and direction, I can increase speed by +10 m/s/s or decrease by -10 m/s/s." As Mizuki explained so, Tatsuya nodded. Most could still follow along, but scratched their cheeks slightly at the technical talk. "However, more specialize version will result in shorter cast time. For example, for deceleration magic, you can just indicate 10 m/s/s and in the context of that magic meant -10 m/s/s of acceleration."

"That's how magic work." Tatsuya nodded curtly.

"However, for more specialize magic, there is a potential to bring out wrong effect. If you input 10 m/s/s in your mind, what version of magic you use will dramatically affect the result correct."

"While the magnitude is the same, if you intended for deceleration, but accidentally use acceleration sequence…"

"You could potentially accelerate object when you shouldn't. That is the safety issue that Marisa pointed out." Mizuki sighed.

"It normally won't happen normally…But in the heat of the moment, something can slip through." Tatsuya rubbed his chin.

"Yes, that is why, if I desire speed and use the specialize version, I can at least confirm the nature of the spell as a failsafe."

"This made me want to converse in detail about magic with you and Marisa more often. On the side note, where is Marisa?"

"Oh her? She is reading something right now, so it didn't feel right to disturb her." The girl shook her head. As a matter of fact, if they didn't invite her to this little rendezvous, she would also be reading or learning something from Marisa. While she wouldn't fault any of her friend, the missed opportunity to learn was a little bit vexing.

"That's unfortunate." Tatsuya who was listening attentively could only smile wryly.

"Shibata-san is quite something. Even if I desperately study magic theory, I still feel quite lacking." Mikihiko who was listening on the side shook his head and smiled self-depreciatingly.

"That is not necessarily true, Mikihiko. The content of our conversation is quite advance that even I am surprised." Mizuki waved her hand, hoping to alleviate her friend's worry.

"Man, I didn't know Mizuki is such a bookworm." Leo then slapped Mikihiko's shoulder. "Don't worry man, I don't understand any of that either."

"Since when can you understand anything?" Erika tauntingly grinned.

"What did you say?" Leo was ticked off.

"The truth!" Erika replied hotly.

"It's on!" Then both declared the state of war against each other, as always.

The whole room could only watch the two duked it out like always. Their usual arguments weren't too destructive as long as none got caught in the crossfire, so they elected to leave them to their own devices.

As if suddenly remembering something, Tatsuya's eyes flickering for a moment before training on Mizuki. His shoulders relaxed a little after learning most that he found was relevant.

"Still, what are your comment?" Tatsuya asked?

"On this?" Mizuki raised the lump of metal in her hand.

"Yes."

"Well…" Mizuki's eyes darted from side to side and she fidgeted a little. "Please don't take offense to this, but I don't think it is a viable, though I can appreciate the originality."

At the end, it seemed that the air in the room froze. Over the time that they had spent together, Tatsuya seemed to be the person with the best theoretical knowledge that no one could refute. However, all of sudden, Mizuki seemed to challenge that notion, earning wide eyes from many. While it wasn't too obvious, Miyuki's glare leveled at Mizuki, concealing a hint of irritation.

"I am sorry, but Mizuki, can you elaborate?" Without showing any sign of being offended, Tatsuya's eyes flickered with curiosity as he leaned in to listen to the girl.

"Very well. The concept compromises both its capability at range and up close. Namely, up close, the blade with a breakable joint in the middle is a disaster waiting to happen. The blade has neither the taper or appropriate thickness for cutting." Balancing the blade on one hand, Mizuki pointed that the center of gravity was way too far from the hand guard. "The balance is off, making it a little unwieldly. However, most of those problems could be correct by proper construction. The main problem with the concept is about the magic itself."

The pause Mizuki took for a breath was silent. Honoka and Shizuku stared at Mizuki with dumbstruck eyes. Erika, who is quite familiar with blades, nodded at her comment. She took note that Mizuki was someone with some knowledge about sword construction. The red-haired girl could follow along because this niche of blade producing was the one that her family, Chiba clan, specialized in.

"When extended, the reinforcement magic will anchor the position of the two sword pieces together correct? This will lock their coordinate in relative together. As the mass of the blade remained the same, even when separated, you aimed to exploit its higher speed. Even when you move your arm the same distance, the detached sword will move faster at higher speed, thus more kinetic energy. However, by moving the object away from the rotational center, you increase its moment of inertia, thus the torque to get it to move. Essentially, you still spend a lot of force to deal more damage. It is essentially no different from impractically long sword."

When hearing Mizuki said so, Erika seemed to tap her forehead and silently berating herself for not being able to point it out the first time she held it. Not that anyone could fault her as she wasn't too involve in the process of blade making or ever held a defective blade before.

"Furthermore, if a force is applied to one end, that force can also be felt in the other end due to locked coordinate. If the sword is set to 1 meter apart and someone tried to yank the end any farther than that, the magic will try to pull the piece back together by making your hand feel the pull too, so the distance of 1 meter is conserved. It is understandable that you would not have this knowledge if you don't primarily wield a sword, but normal sword flexes to absorb some impact energy. Reinforcement magic anchoring two pieces together made them behave like a rigid body, meaning that it won't flex. What would happen to the massive reaction force on impact if the sword cannot absorb it."

"The hand. I can see a strong swing form that breaking a wrist if the blade is separated enough." Erika interjected, while eyeing the sword in Mizuki's hand.

"Atop of this, I doubt that the way the sword handles and balances will be the same when retracted and extended at different distance. That is why I don't believe this to be a particularly valid design. Such weapon would be too specialized and unwieldy to be practical." Mizuki finished and the surrounding was enveloped in heavy silence. After all, nobody expected Mizuki to abruptly tear apart the whole concept of their friend's invention.

Perhaps, the one who showed the strongest reaction was Miyuki, who glared dangerously at Mizuki. As if the heater was set too low, everyone shivered except Mizuki who continued to stare straight at Tatsuya.

Then, a chuckle and claps followed. The surprise made Mizuki's body twitched and perked up slightly as Tatsuya met her eyes and clapped his hand.

"Well done, well done. I give up. Those were very reasonable arguments. While it was unfortunate that it didn't work, I learned something new and will gladly take your compliment for originality."

"Well, it is good that you built it. Although I hope that you didn't spend too much." Mizuki smiled diplomatically.

"Not at all, I simply asked the factory that I know about to fabricate it from cheap materials." Tatsuya held his hands out to receive the blade back from Mizuki and with an uncaring glance, locked the item into its box.

"You know quite a lot about sword. I didn't know that Mizuki is trained in swordsmanship and craftsmanship." The energetic red-haired finally found the new target of interest.

"I am a little bit trained in swordsmanship, but it is not like I am too focused on it. I have a broad range of interest and I read a lot."

"Eh, no way. There is no way that just reading about it can make you this familiar with sword."

"Well, if you read about it and handled it enough, you tend to absorb some of it."

"Ho? Then what kinds of sword did you handle and what style of swordsmanship." Erika watched Mizuki with sparkling eyes, finally finding her kindred soul. It was quite comical as Mizuki was quite troubled to deal with the overflowing enthusiasm that her friend displayed.

The meeting continued until Tatsuya advised that they should turn in for the night. While the tense atmosphere was dispelled by the face that Tatsuya took his failure in stride, it still left a lasting impression about Mizuki.

Shizuku felt that the girl knew more than she showed. Honoka was slightly jealous that Mizuki held Tatsuya undivided attention and he seemed to stare at her with profound curiosity.

The more physical duo, Erika and Leo, had to revise their impressions of Mizuki. Not only was she smart, but also very observant. Erika in particular found her kindred soul, in her opinion, which sparked some curiosity about Mizuki's swordsmanship. The details she could glean and her gut feeling told her that she would be in for a surprise if matched against Mizuki and her extensive knowledge.

Mikihiko concluded that the event that occurred many nights before wasn't a lie. The girl he met that night was definitely Mizuki and she was as competent if not more than she showed. It made him recoiled in shame slightly to know how far he had fallen. He used to be the favored members of Yoshida clan, but now, even with his best effort, his knowledge still paled in comparison to his classmate.

Perhaps the person left with the most misgiving that night was Miyuki. She felt quite irritated to see her brother rebuffed. However, since her Onii-sama accepted the argument to be both valid and educational, she didn't see the need to press the issue. However, emotion and reason often contradicts.

00000

Another chapter down for the count.

What do you think of the new Mizuki? She had changed quite considerably. She just ripped apart Tatsuya's idea. It is one of many things I found unlikable about Mahouka. Not only was that sword ugly as hell, it screamed impracticality if I ever saw one.

If there is any mistake in the physics part of the story, please let me know with explanation.

Can you take a guess for the next chapter?

As always, if you have comment, suggestion or words of encouragement, please leave a review.


	50. Chapter 50: The Cat and Tengu

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Hey, there is new character is play now. This is not an OC, so don't worry. She is quite an obscure character that the people who only watched anime won't know about.

Still…the same night…again. I swear to god that this night in the story is the longer night ever…

00000

 **The same night, Tokyo**

Silence permeated the street showered by moonlight. The high class residential area was the amalgamation of blue bloods' housings, so it was not strange that everyone tended to keep to themselves. The figure perched atop one of the electric pole swore that she couldn't even hear a dog around. However, underneath the guise of dead silence, each high-class mansion was heavily patrolled with guards. Aya would assume that they were well trained, but not nearly enough to catch her even if she was standing in plain sight. What was the chance that one of the guard would look at the top of an electric pole? Moreover, what was the chance of them catching a glimpse of the distortion that was Aya, hidden behind the veil of magic?

Knowing for sure that all the countermeasures were in place, Aya didn't bother to hide her wings that spread out to full glory. The pair of wings waved gently in the wind as Aya stretched her body. There was no way that a Tengu would get tired from flying, but her kind still loved to have a moment to perch at high vantage point.

Aya decided to bath on the serene moonlight for a little more before ending her nightly exercise, but something drew her sight to her feet. More specifically, something at the base of the pole she was standing on drew her eyes. A black lump seemed to be moving closer to her. Aya's avian eyes had no problem picking out the animal as cat. It was quite diminutive in size that Aya could almost cup it in her two hands. Its pitch-black eyes locked on to the raven. Aya almost ignored it until she realized that the feline maintained its eyes on her for far too long to be a coincidence.

On the weird impulse, Aya leaned forward. Her body tipped down and fell. Instead of crashing down on the ground, her wooden sandals soundlessly landed on the ground. Her legs bent, expertly absorbed all the impact. In one smooth motion, she crouched down to stare into the cat's eyes. Rather than the other way around, Aya was the one who ended up perplexed by the cat. It didn't move at all as it curiously watched the Tengu dropped down.

"Nyaa."

"Oh? You are quite fearless little guy, aren't you?" Aya reached out.

"Nyaa." The cat comfortably narrowed its eyes as Aya rubbed its head.

"You almost made me want to take you as a pet, you know?"

"Nya."

"Still, why did you seek me out?" The girl muttered absentmindedly, not directed toward anyone. It was quite a surreal image, seeing a girl on her knee, talking to a cat on the street at midnight.

"Nya." The cat turned around and bounded forward. Aya stood up, thinking that it would be the end of their meeting, but stopped when she caught a glimpse of the cat. It waited for her.

Aya's eyes sharped to a glare at the cat. It didn't contain any malice, but simply for the sake of investigating the cat. There was no connection between the cat and anything else, so it was completely autonomous. The animal didn't show the sign of any magical energy like a shikigami either. It was just that, a perfectly normal black cat.

"Are you trying to lead me somewhere, hmm, little one?"

"Nya."

Aya giggled, feeling liberated. While the cat didn't hold the higher intelligence to converse with her, she at least felt relieved to be able to talk. The least she could do was to at least humor it a little bit. She thought that maybe she would stumble on a scope or something for her Bunkachou notebook.

As she followed the little cat, she took the chance to conceal her wings. Her outfit was the usual, bearing autumn motif, thus looked quite eye-catching. However, without her wings, she would look the part for a simple girl, albeit an eccentric one.

Rounding many corners, the cat leapt up one of the trees and flung itself into the boundary of one mid-sized mansion. Aya paused to collect herself. Her sharp sense easily scanned the garden on the other and picked up the presence of one girl on the other side. Aya's face scrunched up from how faint it felt. It wasn't the type to result from the girl hiding her presence, but simply that her lifeforce was unnaturally weak. Taking that into account with her rising curiosity, her legs sent her flying into the garden.

Like a cat, her landing was quiet. Making her way into the garden, she saw that the black cat was now frolicking with a girl seated on the wheelchair, who tenderly patted its head. The girl on the wheelchair looked like nothing but a little girl, a little on the malnutrition side. However, Aya could easily tell that the girl was not young, in human sense. After all, hundred years old is still considered young in youkai sense.

"Ise?" The girl giggled, but paused after seeing her cat pulling at her sleeve. It looked far too intentional as the cat on her lap only tugged toward one particular direction. The petite girl leveled her eyes at that direction, but didn't see anyone.

"Nyaa." As if protesting, her cat purred, before continued tugging.

"…Is there someone there?" The girl on the wheelchair scanned the area before asking when she noticed the strange pattern in the stand.

Aya stopped when she heard the girl's question. While her Tengu-geta wouldn't leave typical footprints like modern shoes, there would still be some depression on the ground. While quite careless of her, the garden was the traditional Japanese Zen garden, meaning that it was composed majorly of sand. Aya grimaced from the realization that she was getting quite rusty from living in Gensokyo for too long. After all, Aya could prance about to her heart content in Gensokyo without care.

Aya's mind started grinding together for solution. She could simply launch off the ground and leave. Nothing could be traced back to her as the girl couldn't even tell for sure if Aya was actually there. It could just be strange wind. Aya almost did so…almost.

"It seems that my time has come."

"…Nyaa?" The cat seemed to notice that the change on its master's mind.

"Very well, I am prepared. Please end it quickly." The girl on the wheelchair petted her cat and laughed ruefully. "My life isn't quite a happy one, but…it was a good run." She lapsed into silence.

It wasn't strange for the girl to come to such conclusion. Someone managed to stealthily infiltrate their mansion and approached this close to her unnoticed, not to mention that the time was in the middle of the night. She even had such a big target painted on her back too. The sickly girl on the wheelchair was Itsuwa Mio, one of the Thirteen Apostles. It wouldn't take much to guess why she would be targeted.

Thirteen Apostles represented the national power in the era with no nuclear weaponries. With weapon of mass destruction banned by the International Magic Association, the stick that nations can boast about became Strategic-class Magicians. Thirteen Apostles are the Strategic-class Magicians with their identities revealed by their nations for national prestige. Certainly, there are unrevealed Strategic-class Magicians, but it didn't change the fact that the Apostles are now a big target. Taking one down will mean compromising that certain nation's defense. This was why no one tried to assassinate the Apostles as they were the power balance of the world. If one died for whatever the cause, nations would start pointing fingers at each other. However, it was not unthinkable that someone would dare to try for nefarious purpose.

As for why Mio obediently gave up like that, she simply realized that it was hopeless. No guard was around to reach her in time. Her powerful and extremely specialized magic was not only unsuited for protecting herself, but it also was the cause of her degenerative constitution. While she was around 26, she looked like a tiny 13-year-old. Simple body exertion would tire her out. Let alone running, she couldn't even walk and had to rely on her motorized wheelchair. She could neither run nor fight, so the only choice was surrendering.

Mio's quite resignation was watched quietly by Aya. With her millennia of experience, Aya could interpret her eyes. Mio was tired of living, which wasn't an uncommon sight for the outside world before the formation of Gensokyo. However, Aya was quite…disappointed that there were still people like this around. While the society certainly progressed, something remained the same.

The Tengu paused and grasped at the collar of her shirt. Her face scrunched up in thought. After a few moments, Mio who came back from her rueful mood stared toward where Aya stood, puzzled. Aya expelled her breath forcefully and wormed her hand into her necklace hidden beneath her shirt. A tug on her mana was all it took to release the enchantment.

"Eh." While Mio fully expected a person to be there, she couldn't help but let out some strange noise when a person suddenly materialized right in front of her.

"It's quite a night, isn't it?" Aya started as Mio inspected her.

From head to toe, Mio couldn't help but think that the girl in front of her suited the atmosphere at night very well. The dim moonlight gleamed off her raven-black hair. Mio could catch a glimpse of her face, but for some odd reason, she was unable to focus. It was as if Mio could see her face and at the same time, she couldn't. The girl wore an autumn style clothing, which were too early, considering that it was still summer. However, if she was to say something that was the most abnormal, Mio had to say it was her peculiar footwears. Aya was wearing lacquered red Tengu-geta. Unlike the geta with two teeth that may be wore by person in certain niche, Tengu-geta with only one tooth was phased out to collect dust in the museum. After all, one tooth was not very good for balance. However, the girl in front of her showed no trace of sway in her stance at all. It was as if wearing such geta was her second nature.

"You don't look like what I expected from an assassin." Mio glanced down. "Mah, if you dress like an assassin, you are probably not doing your job properly, right?"

"I believe that you are having the wrong idea." The crow waved her fan, sending a strong gust whirling around the garden. "I just follow that little guy here. He found me outside. Quite an interesting cat you have gotten there."

"Her?" Mio poked at the cat's cheek.

"Yep, unfortunately, today is not your day." Tengu waved her fan at Mio, ruffling her hair up with the gust. The cat on her lap protested as it dug in face deeper into its master's lap.

The silence filled in the gap. Mio's eyes never left from the spot as she tried to infer into the other girl's thought.

"Who are you?"

"No one in particular." Aya tried to fill in the time as she didn't particularly have any plan other than stopping Mio's misunderstanding. "Is there camera around? I don't particularly wish to be seen."

"I don't really know, but I assume yes."

Hearing the girl's reply, Aya was glad that she only disabled the full cloaking function. Her necklace still managed to blur her face, inhibiting recognition both directly and through technology. The same trick from three years ago at Okinawa still worked like charm until now. After all, if the other side didn't even know the nature of the magic, there was no hope for them to work out the countermeasure.

"It is quite unnerving to speak to someone that I can't see their face."

"You will have to make do with that. It doesn't matter anyway, because I will be leaving quite soon now." Mio couldn't see it clearly, but Aya seemed to gesture toward one side of the mansion. Aya's sharp hearing could easily picked up the rush of many footsteps coming toward their direction.

"Well good day to you. We might not meet again, so farewell." Aya launched herself off into the air.

Mio could only stare in shock, not because of her inhumanely high jump height, but the fact that her trajectory seemed to change midair. The strange girl movement seemed to level off in the air as she gracefully glided through the air. She was flying. Out of all thing, Mio could not have guess that she would have the chance to see the true flight unfolding in front of her. Before long, Aya's figure seemed to blur out into the dark sky.

00000

And there you go.

So, what do you think when I draw Mio into this story. I didn't go into detail about Mio because I still have to characterize her design a little bit more. She is not an OC, mind you. She is actually one of the canon characters of Mahouka. She had the strategic magic called Abyss, theoretically capable of wiping out and entire naval battle group in one cast. Its secondary application can be used against fortification that run above underground water bodies. She belonged to the Itsuwa family, tagged with number 5. Itsuwa family was quite weak as it seemed that her family was only on the list as Ten Master Clans because Mio was a Strategic-class magician (A.K.A Nuclear Warhead). However, with her power, her body was very weak. The cause was never told in the canon, but she seemed to suffer from degenerative disease. Her body was extremely weak.

What do you think will happen now when Mio is now in the story? She is with the weakest clan and has the weakest body herself. This chapter will only plant the seed for later in the story. Now, back to the main story, I am sure you are quite bored with this night already.


	51. Chapter 51: When Another One Falls

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

I am very sorry for the lag in the update even if my finals were over. I lost the data for the chapter 51 that I started a while back, so I kind of lost my motivation to rewrite everything up once again. Also, I am stuck with this crappy PC too. But enough with that, let's move on to the next chapter.

Another reason that this chapter got delayed is because I have a lot of problem writing the next chapter. I will tell right now that the next chapter will be the start of the next phase. It will be the chapter that will determine how the people in the organization will act from that point on. I currently am trying to create a critical mass, a situation where they have to either go big or go home. Seeing that they are from Gensokyo, they will definitely go big.

The next chapter will be the diverging point of my story, so pardon the slow update even if I am done with my exam.

00000

 _ **The Third Day of Nine School Competition**_

The day started rather normally. However, by the great higher power of Gensokyo, there shall be no mundane day for the denizens of fantasy, or so Lunaire said. In this case, Lunaire was right. The duo youkai magicians were watching the battle board events from the confine of First High booth. Mari was competing on that day, but the two did not see the need to be present personally on the arena.

On the side note, the two never even entered the venue for battle board personally. It was too sunny and crowded for them. Besides, they didn't really like the event too much either for being too confined in two dimensions. There were ups and downs, but the event was more or less confined to the water ways.

Still, today was quite special. On the first sharp curve, instead of decelerating, the Seventh High girl accelerated. It might simply be a new turning technique she had in plan, but her wide-eyes and panic stricken face didn't say so. In the next split second that she tried to turn, her boar slipped from her feet, leaving the poor girl careening through the air. Fortunately or unfortunately, the one slightly ahead of her was Watanabe Mari. Knowing her personality, Mari would not leave the girl alone, which would undoubtedly result in grievous injury on the Seventh High part. Therefore, Mari did the most sensible thing and tried to catch the flying girl. It didn't go as plan to say the least as both went slamming onto the railing of the waterway.

"And it was going so well…"

"Don't say it."

"Alright, Alice. It looks like some children are being naughty today."

The mental conversation between the two went unheard in the clamor of the First High preparation tent. Their voices were rather calm in contrast to their upperclassmen, even though they just witnessed Mari crashing. The girl should be fine. She might smash onto the railing with a girl squished on her, but she should get off with only some fractures.

On the side note, they were rather desensitized to impact injury. Compared to Reimu's Ascension Kick, this was nothing. Both Alice and Lunaire had the displeasure of tasting them before, so they wouldn't bat an eyelid. They clearly forgot that if a normal people were to take them head on, they would most likely snap their necks and well on their way to say hi to a Yama. They could not be blame as there was no way that such techniques would be employed against normal people.

While the surrounding was busy finding heads and tails, Lunaire and Alice had finished deducing the cause of the so called accident. They felt sorry for her, but with people clamoring to tend to her wounds, they found that there was better use for their ability.

"It's thrice already."

"They apparently need to be taught a lesson." Alice mused dangerously, glaring at the nonexistent enemy. While she wasn't particularly close with Mari, they were on better term than mere acquaintance.

"Absolutely. The question is how we go about doing that." Still seated, Lunaire scratched his head awkwardly. "I will admit that I was rather lenient with my run-in with them many nights before. I didn't bother checking up on their background. This is just too much. That flaming car, those intruders and now this..." Crossing his arms, Lunaire shook his head. Even with such lukewarm reaction, his blue eyes gleamed with morbid delight that would not be out of place on a cat.

"It doesn't matter. We can start now."

"I am sure that my…associate will know something useful."

At Lunaire's mention, Alice's face darkened visibly. At first she didn't know the nuance hidden in his word, so she wouldn't show any reaction. However, after learning that he was pointing toward his contacts in the underworld, it was not strange for her to pull faces. For the past many years, she still found misgiving about concerning themselves with the dirty little side. It was undeniable though that they owed a lot of success through their less transparent connections.

"…"

"I know Alice. But if there is any way that we will get to the bottom of this, it is this one." Lunaire ushered Alice out of her seat. Earlier vigor thoroughly quenched, his moment was rather languid. "We should make ourselves scare. Let's go."

The blond and silver inconspicuously made their way toward the exit of the tent, as inconspicuous as their bright hair allowed at least. Apparently, that wasn't enough.

"Wait!" The two turned, recognizing the person calling them out. Her usual saccharine voice was replaced by grim tone, but they could still recognize the voice of their student council president.

"Yes, president?" Alice answered. Mayumi would retort by asking her to call her by her name, but held back due to the seriousness of the situation.

"Alice, Lunaire, did you see that?" Her ruby eyes narrowed, Mayumi gestured lightly toward the monitor.

"If by that you meant what happened to Watanabe-senpai, then yes. We saw that along with everyone." The answer was diplomatically plain, belying no emotion beneath the surface. "We felt…sorry that such an unfortunate…accident happened." The blond did take the effort to give the hint to their petite president.

"What do you think?" Mayumi took a glance at their faces. The hint wasn't lost with her. "I think that it is very fishy. From the way that the student from Seventh high accelerated where they should have slowed down." Mayumi paused. "There is also the part where Mari shouldn't have failed to receive the Seventh High girl. All of it added up to be far too unlikely to be coincidence."

"Because it is not a coincidence." Lunaire said, rolling his eyes.

"I found that the Seventh High of the wave wouldn't deserve their title if they could only produce official contestant that made such amateurish mistake." Alice elaborated coldly. "Furthermore, if you looked closely at Watanabe-senpai's board, the water below it dipped."

"If you ask me, the water doesn't dip like that, not normally." Lunaire continued confidently. While it might sound foolish to confirm the foul play from observing only the water surface, especially only once, Lunaire and Alice were rather sure as they were more sensitive than any could have imagined. They didn't confirm their thought by using direct remote observation magic to investigate the accident scene itself, but their intuition and large flat screen monitor were more than enough.

"We can all agree that there is definitely something else at play, but what? The security measures are…"

"…tighter than a miser's purse, I know prez. But, ahem…" Lunaire cleared his throat and presented his most infuriating grin yet. "When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. There are ways, prez."

"You speak as if you two already have an idea. Mind sharing?" Mayumi breezed through and ignored Lunaire's attempt to drop a quote.

"There are a lot of ways actually, so we are not really sure which. But, if we were to fathom a guess, spirit magic would be a good way to go." Alice answered.

"Spirit magic?"

"Yes, have you heard of it?"

"Yes, but I only know the cursory details." Mayumi chewed on her lips. "I think it is a branch of ancient magic that utilizes the free information bodies, dubbed spirits, as a medium to alter the phenomena, right? However, why do you think it is the spirit magic at work?"

"If you know more ins and outs of that system, then you will think the same. In short, spirit magic offers the closest to the delayed or remotely triggered magic." The boy sighed and turned away. "Now, we can't help you with everything or else you won't be thinking. We need a good variety of viewpoint, so do you own research. If that is it, then…" Lunaire trailed off and began to walk off, leaving the young president to her thought.

* * *

A gasp escaped from Mizuki's lips as she witnessed the train wreck in the battle board course. In a way, it was rather impressive as that was all the reaction pulled from her. After Mari crashed onto the railing, the little girl immediately pulled her glasses down to get a better look at the situation. It was simply the habit she had left over from the days when she couldn't control her eyes.

Mizuki no longer wore her prescribed glasses. In the first place, she only needed it to correct her eyes that were over sensitive to pushion emission. However, with her current near complete control of her eyes, she switched the lens to simple glass. The reason was simply because she preferred the aesthetic and totally was not because the people at the scarlet mansion liked it.

Mentally activating her eyes, Mizuki squinted. Her view brighten momentarily as she adjusted her eyes against the background spiritual light of other audience members. Scanning her eyes from side to side, not neglecting any details, Mizuki caught sight of the unnatural cluster of light in the water way. It was unnatural as no one could see the squirming blue light in the waterway at all even if it was rather eye-catching. The light was not static and was in the process of dissipating into nothingness. It was unmistakably a spirit bodies.

Very despicable, Mizuki thought. She wasn't stupid, so that was all the needed evidence for her to conclude that there was outside interference. Specifically, it was through the spirit magic that the modern magic community was painfully uninformed about. Maybe it was due to its convoluted nature or the hubris of modern magicians, not many were aware of the nature and the potential of the variety of ancient magic in existence. Like many others, spirit magic was considered obsolete and not worthy of researching. Most would rather think that modern magic is superior and improved upon every single aspects of ancient magic.

The irony was that the unconventional nature of spirit magic allowed it to elude all monitoring devices and even magicians' observation. Interfering with the competition that was under extreme surveillance was unthinkable for modern magic, but not the spirit magic. Unlike psion emission, normal magician and event specialized instruments cannot readily detect pushion bodies that composed the spirits after all.

Mizuki grinded her molar as the agitated emotions in the arena started to affect her, so she turned her eyes off. Even while distracted, Mizuki still retained excellent grasp of the people around her. Noticing Erika besides her trying to stand up, Mizuki's arm reached and tugged her back to her seat.

"Stay here. We don't need to add to the chaos." Mizuki chided sharply, making Erika stared at her in shock.

The bespectacled girl noticed another presence standing up, but made no move to stop him. Tatsuya could easily handle the situation, so she refrained from saying anything and simply listened.

"I'll go take a look, you guys stay here. Thanks Mizuki." Tatsuya glanced quickly to Mizuki before weaving his way through the crowd toward the waterway.

"Wait Mizuki, why did you let that guy go?" Erika stare at the black-haired girl, puzzled.

"He seemed more than capable of handling the situation. Look at him go." Mizuki gestured lightly to Tatsuya's retreating figures. Other could only admire the ease in which he weaved his way through the dense crowds that didn't slow him down one bit. "He should be of help."

The offhand comment earned Mizuki the glare from Miyuki. The gesture didn't contain any malice or discontent, but leaned more toward wariness. The more Miyuki interacted with the timid girl, the more she realized that the girl was hidden something beneath the fluffy veil. She knew too much, was too bold, too decisive and too sharp. While Miyuki never care about anyone's background in detail, she couldn't help but suspect that Mizuki's origin was extraordinary.

As far as Miyuki could tell, the girl already saw through that Tatsuya was not an ordinary student. The girl didn't hesitate to leave the task of a medic to her brother. She must have seen through that Tatsuya had the skill set. The rest of their group was rather clueless, so Mizuki who could see that was definitely not normal. That begged the question of how far could this girl actually see. It was not as if Miyuki could ask her straight up.

* * *

 _ **Later in the evening**_

Following the suspicion of foul play, Tatsuya gathered the footage of the competition to his room for further analysis. The more he watched the moments from different angles, the more he was sure that there was third party interference. In an exercise of initiative, Tatsuya reached out to one of his senior in the technician group that was available, Isori Kei. It went without saying that Chiyoda Kanon could not bear to be without her fiancé, so she tagged along as well. But, even with extra pair of eyes, Tatsuya's analysis and conclusion was immovable.

At that moment, another knocking came. Looking to Tatsuya, Miyuki only moved to open the door after receiving a nod from her dearest brother. She returned with two classmates in tow.

"Tatsuya-san we came over as you have asked."

"Sorry for calling the two of you all the way over here."

"Allow me to introduce you. These two are my classmates Yoshida Mikihiko and Shibata Mizuki. I think you two know these two are Isori-senpai and Chiyoda-senpai from the second year."

Following the introduction, Mikihiko tensed up a little from the sudden meeting with his senior, while Mizuki reacted cordially. After short greetings, questioning looks except from Mizuki were directed toward Tatsuya.

"I asked the two of them to come and identify our culprit." The vague sentence eluded the understanding of most, except for Mizuki's who widened her eyes slightly.

Tatsuya continued with his explanation. "We are now examining the possibility that Watanabe-senpai's incident was caused by malicious interference from an outside party." Pulling up the recording, Tatsuya narrated along. "As Watanabe-senpai was losing her balance, an unnatural dip appeared on the water surface, which disrupted the timing for her Inertial Neutralization Magic and forced her to collide with the railing. This was almost certainly caused by magic casted from within the water. Isori-senpai and I came to this conclusion because it is strictly impossible to cast the magic from outside with all the security in place and delayed magic is also unlikely as the contestants in the round before Mari should have noticed something." Like a well-oiled machine, Tatsuya unilaterally handed down the information.

Modern magic has spell with delayed activation. However, it is required for the spell to be recorded onto the object, which highlighted the object like neon paint in the night club for the magicians who looked hard enough. However, no one noticed anything.

"The only possible explanation is that something hidden in the water cast the magic…" Mikihiko eyed Tatsuya strangely when he said so. "But having a magician submerged in the water sounded ridiculous, so rather than someone…something in the water casted the magic in the waterway."

Isori and Kanon glanced at one another, mirroring each other's confusion. However, Isori look changed to the one of recognition.

"It is not even a question. This is the work of spirit magic." All the occupants in the room stared at the petite girl unblinkingly. Only Tatsuya watched her with the eyes of expectation without any hint of surprise. Inwardly, he had the feeling that Mizuki already had the whole story.

Observant and armed with special eyes and exceptionally sharp mind, Tatsuya held almost no doubt. Demonstrated many times in more than one incident, Tatsuya regarded Mizuki as someone who was more than met the eyes.

"Spirit magic manipulates free pushion information bodies as mediums to invoke change in the material world. The pushion spirit can be triggered remotely and a menace to detect by regular magicians. In short, an almost untraceable and undetectable mine can be set, ready to go at any moment notice."

"Such thing is possible? I am not very well versed in the area, but there is a possibility to be found in this line of thought." Kei mused.

"Yes, Shibata-san is correct. Spirit magic is capable of the feats she spoke about, which matched well with our current situation." Mikihiko released the breath he was holding as he spoke. "If the spirit was planted beforehand, a dip in the water surface can be made on demand."

"Hmm, Mikihiko, when you say beforehand, how long are we talking about?" Tatsuya inquired.

"Quite some time. If it is me, I think I can manage with around half a month of preparation with free access to the arena."

"Do they need to infiltrate the arena again after the preparation is complete to arm their trap?"

"There is no need. If the preparation is complete, they could either trigger the previously set spirit or simply send one in through the surveyed ley line when needed." Mikihiko answered grimly. Unnoticed by anyone, Mizuki's eyes twitched in surprise slightly at the mention of ley line. "But even if they managed to accomplish that, there is almost no power to speak of. Spirits are empowered by the user's emotions and will, so if it was set even a few hours prior, the power left would be capable of only practical jokes."

"You are correct, but…the little dip in the water was all it takes to down Watanabe-senpai in that situation, was it not?" Another impassive voice from Mizuki surprised the crews. "Besides, I also took of my glasses quick enough to catch a glimpse of a cluster of pushion in the water." That was the final nail in the coffin.

"Yoshida is an expert on spirit magic and Shibata is especially sensitive to pushion light, which lend credibility to this hypothesis."

"Shibata-san, you saw the pushion in the waterway?" Mikihiko asked tentatively, even if he knew the answer full well.

"Yes, but I only saw it when it was almost completely dispersed. However, it was similar to the spirit with similar color as the ones you used when I stumbled across you."

"Then those were definitely water spirit. That's one mystery solved." Mikihiko groaned and squeezed his temple. "But that doesn't explain such an amateurish approach. This stunt would not have done anything at all if the player from Seventh High didn't happen to lose control at the exact time."

"With the preparation put in, it is not too outlandish for that accident to be engineered too, don't you think? Tatsuya-san, can you please run the recording from the start again."

Without waiting for her to finish, Tatsuya was already rewinding the recording to the beginning. The scene played out on the monitor featured Mari gliding on her board, closely followed by the Seventh High student. They approached the first corner, prompting Mari to slow down according to the textbook.

"As you can see, the accident happened at the first sharp turn of the course where all players should slow down. But the Seventh High girl continued to accelerate. If it was an earnest mistake, then she had no place being in this competition." Mizuki tapped the screen as the girl in question was propelled out in a burst of speed. "That only leaves one point of error, the CAD itself."

"If you were to swap out deceleration sequence for an acceleration sequence, then such an accident is unavoidable. It was not hard to guess that Watanabe-senpai and the Seventh High contestant to be neck to neck from last year result, so I can easily set this up to take out two favored candidates in one strike." Tatsuya continued to provide the next pieces of the puzzle, seemingly more convinced the more he thought.

Tatsuya mused back to what Mizuki said to him the night before. Her special method of manually confirming the type of activation sequence would prevent this exact way of sabotage. It seemed almost more than simple coincidence that Mizuki mentioned it before the accident. However, he did not doubt that Mizuki had no part in the sabotage. It must be one of the astronomical coincidence, he thought.

"Shiba-kun, this sounds both reasonable and terrifying. All you said is totally possible, but who, how and when could they implement this plan. Unless there is some huge conspiracy beneath all of this, there is no way." Kanon's voice trembled as the vestige of security in the competition peeled away. "They need access to the venue and also the opportunity to tamper with the Seventh High CAD to pull this off."

"Unless there is a traitor in the Seventh High's technician team…" Kei mumbled.

"I found that to be quite unlikely. With proper preparation like this, it is unlikely that they will stop here. Therefore, it will be quite inefficient if they only planted traitor in the Seventh High only as they would only be able to tamper with one player. On the flipside, planting traitors into every school is hardly practical." Everyone turned to Mizuki and waited for her next words. Over the past few minutes, this girl managed to fill in the large part of their understanding, so they figured that she had more to contribute. "The most efficient way to gain access to the venue and be able to tamper the CAD of all school is to plant mole in the committee itself."

"That is preposterous." Miyuki gasped.

"No, I can only come to such conclusion as well." Tatsuya stopped his sister.

"…But Onii-sama, assuming that there is a mole on the committee, how and when would they tamper with the CADs? Each school jealously guards their own…"

"I believe Mizuki also suspected this. All CADs are guaranteed to leave each school's control and be turned over to the committee for inspection."

"Ah!" The collective gasped at the realization. The whole theory just became almost undeniable and the weight of fighting in the dark against the foes in the committee just became apparent.

"Still, we still have no clue about their methods." Tatsuya leveled his eyes to Mizuki. "Mizuki, do you think that you can recognize it if you see it?"

The sound of hitched breath went unheard by all, except Tatsuya. Mizuki clenched her fists. She had done it now, she thought. Her topaz eyes searched the boy for any hint of intention, which she found none.

For Tatsuya to go out of his way to ask further for her help, it was most likely that he recognize her abilities. Normally, this wouldn't mean bad things. However, Tatsuya was a high profile character. Getting the attention of high profile character would not bode well for her.

Mizuki knew about Tatsuya's secret identity. She had proven herself to be tightlipped and vital enough that the organization saw no need to withhold the information from her. It could be said that she was surprise that her friend was powerful magician from the crucible of Okinawa, but she didn't overreact. While she didn't treat him any differently, he went up high in her threat list because of his connection with Yotsuba. Not just any connection, but he was apparently related to the main house.

She wasn't a spy, so she felt no need to ingratiate herself with Tatsuya. However, ignoring him completely from the equation was no longer an option, because by the time she knew, she could no longer cut their friendship. In fact, if she were simply to cut their ties, it would draw more of his suspicion. This meant that her only option was to remain inconspicuous. Doing everything well, but never put full effort was her modus operandi.

Sadly, well enough in Mizuki deteriorating common sense was sufficient to draw the attention. After all, being the student of multiple unfathomable existences demanded that her definition of hard work to be revised. Without even showing all her cards, she was already impressive in her own right. Her intelligence and resourcefulness were many cuts above average students.

Mizuki had no choice. Tatsuya asked and she certainly heard the request. She couldn't pretend it didn't happen. If she declined now in front of her peers and upperclassmen, then Tatsuya would know that she had something to hide. If he didn't already know, that is. Not to mention, the ire of her schoolmate and the lost in trust would make her days harsher.

She could simply say that she wouldn't be able to identify the technique, but knowing Tatsuya's personality, he would drag her in anyway just to increase the odds of detecting anything. No matter what she said, her only sensible choice was to assist in the investigation. All she had to do was to hold back naturally, whatever that meant.

"I am not sure, but there is merit in trying." Vague but supportive answer left her lips.

"That is already a great help. I will have to rely on you." Tatsuya thanked her diplomatically. He made sure to bring up Mizuki to the higher echelon of the competition team. Her help would certainly be invaluable.

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And there you go.

That was quite an unnaturally long chapter. I don't think that it is enough to make up for lost time, but please take it as my heartfelt apology for my absence.

I just can't seem to get the wording right for the next chapter. It is just the minor type of writer block. I know what I want, but not how to get there.

If you have something that can help me, any comment or encouragement, please leave a review. Thank you very much for supporting me since the beginning.

I sounded like I am shutting down or going into hiatus, didn't I. But no, I am not going into hiatus or rewriting this anytime soon, so be relieved.


	52. Chapter 52: Reaffirmation

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

I took many days to write this extra-long chapter. I managed to breach my writer block.

I hope that this chapter answers some question about why the people from Gensokyo would go out of their way to do all these troublesome thing. I will admit that this is the plan I have for all along. However, if you see any chapter that might contradict the information from this chapter, please let me know and I will rectify it.

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 _ **The Same Night**_

In the usually dark dining room, the air reeked with tension. Normally, the dining area after sunset in the scarlet devil was rather dim from the few candles present, but now the table was showered with strong bright light. The culprit was the orbs of light floating lazily a few meters above. Fausse Lumiere or so the magic was called. As the name suggested, Fausse Lumiere is a fake light. In contrast to the true light magic that counters impurity, fake light only provided adjustable light source. If true light was used in the venue with vampire, depending on the intensity, the victim usually wouldn't immediately turn to ash. Most likely though was that the perpetrator would end up with a large gash on the face for their trouble as light-based attack is quite painful for vampires.

Showered by the bright and warm glow were six seated members. At the head of table was the scarlet moon, Remilia Scarlet. Lining on her left and right were her treasured friends. On the table, on a cup of tea was served to each of the attendees.

While the set up reminded them of a friendly late night tea party, the mood was too somber to be concluded such. Even Remilia who usually put up her famous or rather infamous charismatic smile, didn't.

As if to stave off their unease, Lunaire and Alice continually sipped their tea from the cute porcelain cups. It had the side effect of keeping Sakuya busy brewing and refilling their drinks. The three wore a stoic expression, but only Sakuya didn't have the unusual strain.

"This is quite a…sudden gathering, don't you think." The rabbit tried to lighten the mood, but wasn't too convincing as her ears flopped down halfway listlessly.

Lunaire snorted softly as Aya responded only by waving her fan. The wind generated rattled the cups slightly. The gust did little to disturb Patchouli, but she did pause before flipping to the next page of the book on her lap.

No one seemed willing to talk. The silence permeated the room, threatened to suffocate the occupants. The fact that most fairies in the mansion seemed to have fallen asleep by this time exasperated the problem.

"Relax. We are here just to confirm something. Nothing big." The chuckle was Lunaire obvious attempt to alleviate the pressure.

"How can you say that? Lunaire, now, of all times! We are at the point of no return…" The cup rattled when Marisa slammed down at the table, seemingly snapping from the tension. Her witch hat drooped over her eyes, concealing her stress.

"We were at the point of no return, Marisa." Lunaire snorted coldly, emphasizing the past tense.

"It didn't mean that we can't stop now." As if to elaborate on the point of her blond compatriot, Alice added softly.

"True, Alice, but even if we stop now, it won't be the same as when we started."

"Nothing will be the same after what we did." Patchouli flipped another page without batting an eyelid. "But it won't be as drastic of a change if we stop now." Lunaire wasn't sure if he should be impressed or terrified that this girl could contemplate life changing problem as normally as thinking what she would have for dinner. Besides, did Patchouli care about what she has for dinner?

"Still, it is not as if we could stop after knowing that after all. Three years had pass, but I don't think anyone of us forget why we did what we did…and why we will do what we planned." Reisen added solemnly and sighed. She sipped and found her tea to be distastefully cold.

"But, don't you think about what would happen if it goes wrong. No! Scratch that! What would happen even if it goes right? We don't even understand what would happen, da ze. I thought you are better than this Lunaire." Yanking her hat back, Marisa's golden eyes bore into the steely blue before snapping around the room accusingly. "I will admit it. When we agreed to this plan three years ago, I didn't know what I was walking into. Raising the magic level in this suffocating world would do us some good with the transition. But, I didn't understand the true meaning of that, not until now, having lived in this…outside world for a while."

Concealed by her slightly baggy witch outfits that she didn't dare wear outside, her thin shoulders were trembling. Her hands recoiled back from the table as she cradled her own body to ease the shivering. Watching such display, no one made any reaction other than Alice. They simply watched her impassively. Reisen simply seemed more slightly more worried, but not a word was uttered from her.

"The world is wide…wider than someone from Gensokyo like me could have ever imagined and much crueler. I don't claim to understand this world as much as you do, Lunaire. I don't. But...but there is so much that we didn't know and the people…"

"You are afraid." Without beating around the bush, Lunaire took a stab forward.

"What is wrong about being afraid, da ze!"

"Nothing…Nothing at all…But you know what Marisa, I am afraid too. I am very afraid, terrified even, about what could happen. However, it didn't keep me up at night as much as what will happen…" Lunaire emphasized on the part will. The inevitability of his statement should be made clear to anyone who cared to listen. "If we don't do anything at all…"

"I have to agree with Lunaire on this one. We are running out of time. The world is not ready for Gensokyo no matter how we look at it." The crow looked down at the ripple in her teacup.

"Marisa, you need to calm down."

"She should know better. She has seen it at the Hakurei Shrine, and yet she still…"

"Mah mah, Patchouli, please don't aggravate her like that. I am sure Marisa understands that deep down."

"…"

"This is getting nowhere. We are gathered here only for our last affirmation…before we all plunge down the deep end, together. Isn't that just romantic? How hard could it be?" Remilia's grin exposed her tiny sharp fangs.

"Quite hard, Remi, because the moment we jump, we cannot stop. Our preparations and everything up till now is just exposition. From now on, it is the real show. Marisa is probably worried that if we choose this option, we can only go through with it till the end. The facts that we don't know anything that could happen and that our hands will be forced from now on are troubling to say the least." It was not as if Lunaire cannot understand the worry. While he put of a rather strong front, everyone at this place knew that they were jumping off the cliff. No one had the foresight to predict the effect of their actions. Everyone knew this, except maybe Meiling, but only Marisa was vocal about it.

"So? We know full well of what would happen if we don't act, don't we, Marisa?" Remilia's grin didn't waver, but her eyes weren't laughing when she said so.

"Sure, but we don't…"

"If the Great Hakurei barrier is dissolved, which we all know that it will in the near future, in the current state of affair, what would happen?"

"Remi, I don't need you to lecture me like that!" Marisa continued on her struggle.

"I don't really understand what you are on about. The Great Hakurei barrier will fall, very soon I might add. Even Yukari in her unholy glory would be unable to stop it. Besides, that hag is probably running herself aground trying to keep that barrier afloat till now." Aggravated, Remilia snorted in distaste. "Don't even say that it might not fall. Lunaire and Patchouli agreed that it will."

"Marisa, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. Even with the barrier acting strangely, refusing all attempt to pass through from this side, with all our combined power we can even break through and send you back." Sounding perfectly content, Lunaire let a small smile crept onto his face. The magician seemed as if he was talking about his lunch.

"…"

"Normally, with a little of knowhow, you can cross into Gensokyo quite easily. However, the current state when the barrier won't allow us to pass. Gensokyo is completely cut off from us. But, with how weak the barrier is right now, even our meager combined power is enough to forcefully punch a hole through. If you don't want a part in this, you can wash your hand and go."

Marisa bit her lips preparing to retort, but the combined glare from Lunaire and Remilia extinguish her fire. Wilting in her seat, Marisa's eyes displayed a mix of fear and sadness, primarily the later. While other members gave an implicit response, the two made it clear for her. They would do this, with or without her. A sense of loss threatened to overwhelm her. While she wasn't to close with any of them, Marisa was coming around for all the time she spent with them. However, all of them just made it clear to her that she wasn't essential. It was lonely, terrifyingly lonely when one's close friends said it as if she wasn't the part of their group.

They couldn't be blame for passing out such a devastating message. The stakes were high, but it was the game they must play. Gensokyo would once again be dropped into the outside world, with or without their intervention. They could not stop the deterioration of the barrier. The fact that they could forcibly enter even when the barrier was trying to shut them out was all the proof needed. Lunaire, Patchouli and Alice established this as an undeniable fact three years ago and it didn't change since then.

If they didn't do anything, Gensokyo would still appear, heralding chaos and destruction. Possibly the fourth world war might fire to spice things up. While everyone presents didn't know everyone in Gensokyo enough to care specifically about their wellbeing, there is still a bottom line. The bond that connected them as a denizen of Gensokyo would be enough that the thought of dropping their friends into a sudden war was distasteful. Not if they could help it.

With such heavy stakes, their relationship with Marisa seemed light in comparison. While Alice had her misgiving against treating Marisa like that, the rest had a far more realistic view. There was not time for idealism. The time limit was set and ticking. If Marisa won't help, then chucking her away in Gensokyo would do more good.

"Marisa, as much as I value our friendship when I don't have to chase you around the library, it is still far lighter than the entirety of Gensokyo."

"Lunaire, is this what you say to your friend?!"

"Compare to the alternative of having that piece of paradise burn, like I care if you despise me!" After Lunaire slammed his hand onto the table, it seemed as if the ripple spread through the room. "Huh, I will admit. It will leave a bad taste in my mouth if you…both of you hate me, but I will still choose to go ahead with this choice, ten times out of ten, no hesitation. We don't have time for hesitation. Even if this path will cause suffering to many on this side, Gensokyo takes precedence. Either you are with us or you are not. We need to work together for this to work. I can't have our little group tumbling apart when we roll down the slope. If you are not committed to this, then you are a liability. Take it or leave it!"

"…"

"We don't have time for this. The president knocked on my door, wanting to meet the two of us soon. By that I mean Alice and I, so we have to leave soon. But not before working this out. If you don't agree with this plan, we will send you back to Gensokyo tomorrow morning. I will handle the fallout of your disappearance by myself." The silver magician spoke gruffly.

"I am with the plan." Remilia's eyes gleamed, not with mirth but strong intent.

"Me too." The rabbit knew that their actions would send ripples, strong enough to shake the world. It would be the riskiest and most uncertain plan she had ever participated in.

"There is no other option." Even the experience of more than a millennia, Aya could not help but worried. Their actions would finally break the stalemate that had continued since the time immemorial. The true supernatural side would no longer be just a figment of imagination in the eyes of the mass. Beneath her façade of nonsense, Aya trembled slightly.

"The library is on this side." Patchouli characteristically didn't say much. The fact that she gave the effort to even voice her agreement was quite impressive, although her reason was highly questionable. Hopefully, she had other reason that she wouldn't voice.

"…I will have to go along with it as well. I can't live with myself if I at least don't do anything to help." After a few seconds of deliberation, Alice leaned back in her seat and voiced her choice. For a being like her that lived for a long time, regret would weight her down for a long time.

"Alice, even you…" The fact that even her tentative close compatriot abandoned her almost brought Marisa to tears.

"The members that agree with this will form the core councilors of our temporary organization. As the council that oversees our organization, we have to make a lot of decision. Vote will be cast for every major decision for this organization. The result will be absolute. There will be more than once that we may be force to do something that we don't want, but I don't think that we will suffer too much from that." Sighed heavily with the weight of the world, Lunaire's eyes fell to his cup as he recited the line he had prepared beforehand. "The only problem is you, Marisa. Since most of us have the same opinion on most issues, most decision will most likely be all of us against you." His next jab made Marisa's back twitched from strain.

"If you can't handle following the directive strictly as it was written, then it would be better if you leave. It would be better for your conscious. We also don't want to sanction you if you don't follow orders, because it would look bad for the organization's councilor to be punished." A former soldier spoke from her experience. Even if she did not look like it, Reisen used to be a part of organized military, so she knew the power of guilty conscious and the importance of image of the ones in command.

"Ahhrgh, fine whatever, do your worst! I will go along with it, da ze! Just watch."

"…Mah, whatever, we will see." Lunaire spat his bottled feeling. As cruel as it may sounded, Lunaire did not have complete confidence in Marisa. She was an impressive individual, but she was too free spirited and too pure-minded.

Letting alone following an order she didn't agree with, Lunaire had little confidence that she could do as she was told even if her heart was in it. As a researcher, this flaw wouldn't show. However, as a person acting as a part of an organization, she would be a wreck. Still, there was merit in trying.

"With all these uncomfortable matter over, we will have to call it a day."

"Wait, I believe that we have another pressing concern."

"Which is?"

"Meiling's complaint is becoming unbearable as of late."

"Ah!" Hearing the mistress said so, Meilling standing behind nodded vigorously. Even with the trainees to pick up the slack, the bulk of the cleaning up task stilled belonged to the powerhouses of the mansion. In the beginning, Remilia took the chance to go blast something, anything, for herself. However, after a few days, it quickly grew stale. She quickly relegated the task to Meilling. No one could fault her for that as Meilling was the guard of the mansion. Still, asking a gate guard to go out and exterminate the youkai, as weak as they were, over the area of many square kilometers for many nights in a row was too cruel. The sheer pitifulness was even enough to move Patchouli and Reisen to offer their help for some nights. Reisen was another matter, but the pitifulness at the level capable of moving Patchouli was rather fearsome.

It was not that their help was not appreciated, but Patchouli, in her full glory, was rather liberal with her firepower. Meilling didn't care for the surrounding too much either, but at least she wasn't put in charge of the firepower that can flatten the trees and till the earth. While she did restore most of the trees with her wood oriented spell, everyone who cared to take a walk through the woods will find the trees changing places every night.

This was all from the fault of magic reactors. Dropping one of those was like digging up an oasis in the middle of a desert. The one with less restraint and greedier would rush for it in a blink of an eye. It was one of the methods devised to weed out the undesirables, in the sense of the ones harmful to human. It certainly wasn't meant to be fully effective as greedy and dangerous youkai could also be careful enough not to lash out at the glistering flame.

It was not as if their agenda was policing the action of youkai, because doing so would be both hypocritical and arrogant of them. It was in their nature for youkai to terrorize human for they are born from the darkness of the night. Born from human fear, they symbolized the figment of imagination and doubt in the unknown. While not all youkai would pose a direct threat to human like the rabbits and magicians, there are various that terrorize humans. Especially playing on the fear of death, they were many that even prey on human. To turn back on such nature would be to deny their very existence.

As to why they were trying to cull the population of the more dangerous ones, it was for one reason. Their existence was a nuisance to the plan. Nothing more and nothing less, it was just necessity. The goal to raise the mana level covertly would run aground if the more malevolent youkai were let to prey on human. Strings of mysterious deaths in the area surrounding their mansion would trigger investigation faster than they could say "second plan."

The extermination lasted for many months now and there was no longer any point in keeping it up any longer. Now, it was time to catch the bigger fishes. Over these past few months, they were keeping up zero contact policy, ignoring any attempt at communication. Those that were smart were quick enough to recognize that trespassing into the mana-rich land led to certain death, so they tried something else. Shikigami were sent and shot down. Spell were cast and countered. Although there were so much being sent that they had problem intercepting all, they got off with protecting the interior of their mansion. The barrier defended against any attempt to spy on the area inside the training ground and mansion. The problem arose when the shikigami lingered just outside the range and watch. With limiting manpower, they had problem completely tagging them day and night.

On the side note, the students got their fill of counter observation magic. The hunt became rather easy for them, so they were growing a little too conceited for their own good. On the other hand, the group that hung back from combat was becoming complacent. The people behind the attempts were rather skillful and served as a good reminder that their abilities were only up to the level of kittens. Meilling got her fill mocking them for being so clueless.

That aside, it had to end. It was time that the organization reached out. It was rather boorish for them to want to talk after refusing all attempt of contact. However, they had all the cards. Land rich with mana was quite a strong card as arrogant as that may sound. The organization had what they needed, so the other parties had no choice but to dance to their tunes.

After a bout of explanation for the next phase of the plan to make contact with other supernatural natives, the solemn atmosphere filled the venue. This was it, their first step toward causing the largest and most unpredictable incident that all Gensokyo denizen ever seen. Instead of affecting only the area of few square kilometers, this incident would rock the world.

"Sadly, our time is rather limited. While I would like to get into more detail about what to do to continue with our plan, I am sure you all can handle that." Lunaire's smile was strained as the concern was noted. However, they had little time to discuss.

"You sure want to leave that to us?" The tone of the childishly lisping voice could send chills down his spine. In her attempt at morbid humor, the inhuman red eyes narrowed amusedly. It made him worried what would she say during the negotiation with whatever they came in contact with. She had toned down her usual holier-than-thou speech, but there were no doubt that Remilia might try to project her questionable charisma if given the chance.

"Sure, I entrust my vote to Reisen. Whatever she decided will count as both her and my vote." Lunaire remarked offhandedly.

"What is this suddenly?" The rabbit reacted to the attention like a deer in the headlight.

"I won't be here to oversee all the discussion. All the decisions must be made rapidly with the situation. I trust that you won't disappoint." Lunaire smiled, while nudging at Alice.

Lunaire brought up an excellent point. Lunaire an Alice would be extremely busy for the next few days from the competition. They hung back for the first few days, but now it was their turn. The council would need to be on the clock and they who could not participate in all meeting during the day should give their voice to someone else.

"Alright then, I will give mine to Aya." Alice tried not to think about her decision too much. At first she wanted to give her vote to Reisen, because the rabbit was quite amiable and would propose a more light-handed approach. Reisen had good balance between vigilance and paranoia. However, Alice learned enough from Lunaire that giving almost unparalleled power to an individual in the system would be unwise. Reisen, with three voting rights, would stand unopposed in her decision except when the rest councilors unanimously veto her decision. That was why Alice picked the second best. She wouldn't trust the other to not rely on gunboat diplomacy.

Soon after adjoining the little meeting, Alice and Lunaire quickly left in a bright light of teleportation to tackle their problem on the other front.

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There you go, another chapter finished.

What do you think? The Scarlet Devil Mansion team, plus a few others, will now orchestrate the largest incident of Gensokyo. It will probably be the final act on the story of Gensokyo in isolation. However, don't you worry, this story is not over anytime soon. It will be a while before the Great Hakurei Barrier comes down.

If any ready worries that I will ditch the incident that occurred during Urban Legend in Limbo and Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom, don't be. They will be coming, but this time, the perspective is fresh.


	53. Chapter 53: The Gambit

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

After another long break, here is another chapter to quell your thirst. I have written this chapter many times just to get the mood right.

If any of you are interesting in my excuse for my year long absence, I can only say university and my mother fractured her hips. At first I was going to write after I surpassed my writer's block, but my mom was immobilized from falling off a ladder. The fall fracture her left hip and for the first 2-3 months she could not even flip around in her bed. She is okay now, but the doctor said there won't be next time as in she won't be able to walk if she fall on her left side again.

Then again, I am very thankful for anyone still sticking by with this story till now. My special thank goes to erickkarver for still not giving up on me after the long absence. This doubly long chapter is for you all.

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As Alice knocked on the door to the meeting room, where they were summoned by the whimsical president, Lunaire gently rubbed his temple. Leaving the mansion in a hurry, Alice and Lunaire arrived just in time to make it the meeting.

The visit from the president that pulled them from the meeting was rather unexpected. It was well past dinner time, so someone probably would have already fallen asleep. Not exactly the time for a meeting, it still wasn't bed time proper, so Lunaire couldn't fault Mayumi for calling them up at this time even if the timing greatly restricted his presence in the vastly more important council meeting.

Frankly, after the ordeal at the mansion, the two didn't feel fit for the meeting. Their absentminded gait belied the turmoil of their mind. Walking shoulder to shoulder, if one looked closely, Alice was trembling slightly. Lunaire wasn't, but his shoulders were rigid with tension. His hands alternated from balling into a fist to massaging his hurting temple.

"Excuse us." Alice said formally after knocking on the door with Meeting Room 7 written in bold. Was this an attempt at irony, Alice wondered and expelled her breath forcefully at the thought of lady of the Saegusa family, seven grass.

Both Alice and Lunaire could guess the reason they were summoned. Today, they lost a crucial linchpin in their victory. Banking on the guaranteed championship by one of the Big Three, Mari, was no longer viable. Mari was favored to win gold for both Battle Board and Mirage Bat, but they knew how it turned out. Lunaire wanted to mock them for thinking that Big Three was a sure fire single most effective solution to securing their victory.

"It's good that you can make it here…right on time it seems. Cutting it close, are you?" Mari quipped well-naturedly. For sustaining an injury, she was doing rather well. However, her remark was rather inappropriate for the occasion.

"Pardon my bluntness, but we had prior arrangement. We made it in time, so please leave it at that and I would appreciate if we begin our discussion." With her arms straight on her side, Alice leveled her eyes toward the members already seated.

Miyuki raised her eyes slightly hearing Alice's remark. In her mind, Alice was a mysterious lady with good-natured charm, well-cultured and intelligent. Her previous remark, even when evaluated with the most lenient of criteria, was borderline rude. Tatsuya was having the same thought and racked his mind searching for the reason that both of the newcomers were upset. Unlike Miyuki who could only noticed Alice, Tatsuya could also felt the tension like an overdrawn bow from Lunaire too. With such stress, it was no wonder that they snapped at Mari's comment.

The possible cause of grievance eluded their minds however, as the two siblings weren't particularly close with them. For Tatsuya, the most that he could say was that the two foreigners were friends of friends. In Miyuki's case, a status of strange classmates could certainly be added to her evaluation of the enigmas.

Mayumi panicked that such aggressive response came out that she spun her neck to gauge the reaction from her longtime friend. Seeing that Mari only shut her mouth and froze, Mayumi sighed relieved that her friend didn't take much offense, just shock. At this point, she steeled her expression to be more rigid and prepared to at least berate her underclassman for her inability to take a joke.

"Alice-san, there is no need to take it out on Mari. She was just joking, so you should lighten up somewhat." Not knowing what was on their minds prior entering the room, Mayumi was treading lightly and choose the words that should not rub them wrongly.

"My apology for my overreaction, president, I was very much edge." Seeing the other party was willing to drop the issue of faux pas, Alice nodded stiffly, trying to reign in her preoccupied mind.

"Please forgive her as we have the matter of our prior arrangement on our hands." Lunaire tried to smile, the keyword being tried. All that could be mustered was an awkward smile which did little to alleviate the unease.

"I would advise you to separate personal matter from work. We called you here on a pressing matter. As parts of the team, any personal arrangement takes second priority." Katsuto crossed his arms in the seat, like an immovable mountain. His eyes were closed as if in deep contemplation. It was his favored tactic to exert control over people. Katsuto's frame was built like a truck, thus his lumbering physique was a rather convincing argument for others to listen to the boss.

Raised with strict upbringing, Katsuto demanded absolute obedience from his subordinates. Just and fair would be appropriate as descriptors for his policies. He was certainly an honorable and disciplined man too, thus he would demand the same standard from his people, berating them when necessary. However, the two magicians, in status, were as far away as possible from being his subordinates.

Rather giving the simple affirmative that Juumonji expected, the two of them returned to him their most murderous glares. Previously oblivious that someone stepped on the landmine, the fact was made known quite amply to everyone present. As the whole room was unprepared, only Tatsuya and Katsuto admirably avoided flinching. Even without letting any magic out of their lids, waves of irritation rolled of the youkai's eyes. The rest should be awarded half the points for not squeaking or letting out any other disgraceful noise. It should be note that even without resorting to magic, they are honest-to-god youkai. Exerting this much fear was a simple child play, regardless of the fact that youkai magicians are not particularly vicious creatures.

Alice simply crossed her arms, while Lunaire only narrowed his eyes. Their posture didn't change too much, but the atmosphere that enveloped them changed drastically. They didn't widen or lower their stance like a fierce animal preparing to strike. However, their eyes and blank expression were more than sufficient at make a point.

Mayumi, Suzune and Mari bit their lips to avoid letting the voice escape. When the atmosphere shifted, if felt as if they were pressured. In their limited experience, they couldn't tell at all the feeling that was assaulting and gnawing at their insides. Only Mari who learned quite numerous self-defense techniques had an inkling of what the feeling was. Many beads of sweat rolled of her forehead. If there was a simple word she could use to define the feeling, the closest she could grasp was the sense of danger.

Tatsuya and Juumonji clenched their fists and let the tension flow through their legs, preparing to kick up from their seats at any moment. Their reaction was in an instant, almost unnoticed by anyone but themselves. It was almost an instinct. They met the glares of the two newcomers and the most apt description would be like staring down the business end of a gun or at pouncing ferocious beasts. It was no wonder that their instinct from the extensive training would kick in.

"Noted, but I believed that during one of the meeting that…" Alice looked slightly toward Tatsuya, but never lowered the intensity of her glares. "…you all except Tatsuya were present, Lunaire made it clear one thing. We are half-heartedly committing to this competition. So if you would forgive me for saying such, this competition is second priority to us." Alice didn't neglect to hammer the word Katsuto used back against him. "With all due respect, Chairman, please do not arbitrarily evaluate our priority. We very much have a place we would like to be tonight, but decided to come out of our consideration to you, so please forgive me for quipping."

Alice and Lunaire's hearts reflected the same feeling, outrage. Making a remark to willingly throwing aside their friend for another goal took its toll. As Lunaire was berating and handing out scathing remark against Marisa and Alice staying silent in the process, they were hurting with guilt as well. Even while thinking that it had to be done, they could not completely quench the pain and doubt. What if Marisa truly decided to leave? It wasn't as if they were spineless enough to say something and couldn't back it up. If Marisa decided so, they would send her away even if they would be crying when doing so. Still, the impact would be devastating. They would be left with the guilt of destroying whatever relationship they had with a friend.

With such feeling looming over their head, they simply wanted to get the meeting over with. They didn't want to sign up for this, but did it anyway and might as well follow through. In their mind, they had given the president and chairman ample amounts of consideration by merely being here. And they were rewarded with a remark that suggested their hard decision was unimportant, a second priority. Their very agonizing moment was blown off as insignificant, even unknowingly, so Alice and Lunaire could not hope to suppress their emotion. While it might be a little bit unfair for the other party, the two could not bring themselves to care. It might be childish, but went a long way to say that a youkai magician was not too far beyond human. Even with the added number of years under their belt, the odds of losing something precious would be feared by all.

"…"

Bearing the brunt of their outburst, Katsuto could say naught. He wasn't sure which part of his remark was the cause, but he seemed to have stepped on a mine, a gigantic one to say the least, and it exploded quite spectacularly. If his drenched back was of any indication, the terrifying aura they emitted was borderline killing intent. He could not say he was unacquainted with war veterans. His life was filled with them. Militaristic upbringing ensured that he was no stranger to the intimidating air hanging around the seasoned veterans. Still, it paled in comparison to Alice and Lunaire at the moment. The true intent to kill wasn't present, but it didn't lessen his worry at all as for the first time he could remember, the two immovable underclassmen were royally angry.

"Hahaha, I don't know what came over us." Out of blue, a burst of laughter came from Lunaire. The ire reflected in his piecing blue eyes dissolved as if it was a lie. Noticing the change in the atmosphere, Alice reigned in her emotion, but with a dissatisfied huffed. "We took the time to get here and didn't expect such a…fitting welcome." A flash of seriousness returned for a fleeting moment when he fired his sarcasm hotly.

"Indeed, let's get to the main issue and ignore this minor hiccup." Alice glossed the whole issue over and put on amiable smile.

"…Right…right, please take a seat." Mayumi sentiment reflected most that had never experience the two freshmen's wrath. Her voice quivered, so she kept her line short. Coquettish smile perpetually plastered on her face was nowhere to be seen.

"Thank you."

Alice and Lunaire sat down unceremoniously. Their bodies were relaxed as if the whole ordeal was nothing but a fickle imagination. Perhaps cowed by the previous intimidating display, no one dared to bring up the topic of what had transpired. If the two were to explode once again, their meeting might as well be called off.

Mayumi who took her sweet time to recover from shock nudged her assistant, Suzune, to begin her explanation. The content of the explanation was rather predictable, making Lunaire snorted under his breath more than once.

While Lunaire didn't pay too much attention to the meeting, he could briefly boil down all the points. The Third High was doing better than expected. The smaller gap between their score and First High's, in combination with the recent freak accident lit the figurative fire under their behinds. They were still confident in their victory, because their great and glorious leader, Juumonji Katsuto would guarantee the first place on higher stake competition. However, with the recent loss of Mari, they wanted a replacement with at least a marginal chance to win for Mirage Bat.

The official division had more points attached than the newcomer division. With Mari out of the picture, Mirage Bat only had one player from First High left. It might sound harsh for her, but the remaining contestant would be hard pressed to properly secure a high place on the leader board. Thus, the decision was made to pull someone from the freshman year in the newcomer division to substitute for Mari.

"The biggest reason is that we did not prepare a backup for Mirage Bat. While there are certainly some upperclassmen with only one event, asking them to prepare for an aerial match would be too unreasonable." Mari explained.

Alice didn't nod. Like a serene surface of the pond, her expression was unreadable. The display rattled the composure of the upper echelon quite a bit as Alice didn't show the slightest reaction even if this whole discussion was regarding to her. By this point, both Miyuki and Alice knew that they were targeted as the possible candidate.

"With all of that in consideration, I found that you two are our best possible candidates to fill in the role as you both are competing Mirage Bat in newcomer division." Mari finished their proposal, allowing the content to sink in.

"Then I would like to question my presence in this room. While it was another matter for Tatsuya as his dearest sister was concerned, for what exactly was I called here?" Roughly scratching at his hair and shaking his head, Lunaire sighed.

"Ara, don't you feel happy to be here with Onee-chan?" Following Mayumi probingly cheeky remark, Suzune loudly cough. Needless to say, the saccharine smile from Lunaire sent a chill up her spine. To clarify, the chill was, rather than in a sexual sense, more along the line of 'just one more time, and…' "Of course not. I hope that you can provide an extra eyes and opinion." Mayumi hunched back in her seat, allowing the shadow of her ink black hair to conceal her expression.

"Is that so?"

"Saegusa told me that you immediately knew that Mari's accident was in fact premeditated. We hope to request the use of your analytic skill on this occasion." Katsuto gruffly explained. His approach was professional and worlds apart from Mayumi teasing.

The tense air permeated between them. Luckily after a bout of venting, Lunaire was willing to let an uncalled for joke slip by.

" _Sehr gut_ (German for very good)," Lunaire didn't neglect to add that he had enough trouble on his hands already under his breath. "So what is it that you want to ask?"

"About this whole situation as a whole, considering the possibility sabotage, what do you think about our course of action?" Gaining back his authoritative aura, Katsuto's response was bare boned, but rather vague in some area.

"You ask me as if I am one of you brass. It is way beyond my pay grade" It could be said that he already had calmed down from his rage, but Lunaire still was rather unwilling to be easy and cooperate fully with the party that ticked him off. Rather petty of an action from a being a century old, Lunaire was simply annoyed and wanted to return the favor.

"But you have some thoughts, no? Why don't you go ahead and say it." The response was not unexpected, whether if it was to be interpreted literally or figuratively. Literally, Lunaire seemed to not desire stepping out of bound. But if his earlier reaction told him anything, it was that Lunaire genuinely did not care. In short, he was simply waiting for Katsuto to ask as the initiative in the conversation would shift in Lunaire's favor. It was a mild insult, but the one he had to take obediently.

Katsuto was a resolute man. Pressure and polite insults could not come as close to fazing him. However, it was a different matter if those come from those he thought of as his subordinates. Katsuto judged the value of a person with their mettle and accomplishment, so he never consciously discriminated someone as being lower than he was. However, he believed in hierarchy and order. Being on the receiving end of Lunaire's insult, who Katsuto mistakenly thought of as subordinate, irritated him somewhat. The only indication of his mood was his silent snort that no doubt registered by Lunaire who stared straight at him.

"If you insist…" Lunaire flashed a neutral smile from successfully handing out small payback and continued to his response immediately as the other party acquiesced quietly. "I believe that we should promote both Miyuki-san and Alice to the official division for Mirage Bat. The competition committee should be lenient. They will think that with Mari's accident, we are on the wire and needed to bring up even the rookie. It would be fair for two rookies to substitute for a pro." Lunaire paused slightly when mentioning rookies, trying to incorporated a hidden message into his lines.

"Interesting proposition, but what is the reasoning." With such poor attempt to conceal, Katsuto could understand that the two rookies wouldn't be simple in the field. Katsuto had the slightest urge to question where did Lunaire procured his confidence, but canned it for the more pressing doubt. "I have no doubt that the committee will have to give us some leeway, but why should we take two instead of one. Either one of them should be good enough for the job."

"Official division gives more points than freshman division right? If so, having two of them occupying first and second will go a long way in securing our victory." The silver-haired magician chuckled mirthfully as if conversing with a child.

"You say it as if they are guaranteed to win." Hearing the bold statement, Mari couldn't help but asked. Lunaire spoke with confidence as if telling her that the two freshmen would have done a better job than her. After all, Mari was confident to do well, but the first place was far from guaranteed in her mind.

"While I am not certain about Miyuki-san's skill as I haven't observed her skill, Alice will ruin your cupcake all day every day in the air. Let's just leave it at that." Lunaire's attempt at humor served only to raise an eyebrow from Mari. With her interest piqued, Mari turned her eyes questioningly to Alice, who still refused to grace them with her words after the outburst.

"Leaving your vote of confidence aside, it seems that there is more reason to it." Katsuto took this as an opportunity to stab deeper. In his mind, after putting together the stories he received from Mayumi, the giant could only conclude that Lunaire and Alice weren't a simple students. He wouldn't even care too much if it was only talent. However, if he could say something about the two, it was that they had the skills and experience that were not easily attainable. They also knew more and there was that terrifying experience earlier. It frustrated him to no end, but he had to admit that while he was bumbling in the dark, they would have a rather rough idea of the whole situation.

"Indeed…"

"…"

"…"

"Would you mind sharing?" Katsuto bit his teeth and gave more ground.

"…Sure, my purpose is three-fold. Primarily, it is a provocation and an insurance. I couldn't care less about our victory, but the bugger wouldn't stop pestering us for a while now. I won't get into the detail, but someone has been trying to get at First High." Crossing his hands and leaning on the table, Lunaire concealed his mirthful smile. "I can't conclude who, but I know that they wanted us to lose and I don't like that. Putting both Alice and Miyuki up to official division will increase the size of our winning, which they certainly don't like."

"You are using them as bait." Tatsuya growled.

"In a sense yes, you are correct. I am not sure how high key Alice and Miyuki-san are because they weren't pulled out at least once in the past, but if the other party wants to continue their plan, Mirage Bat would be a logical choice. Watanabe-senpai forfeiting was like a figurative hole in our ship. As long as it remained, it will be a matter of time we sink or so they will think. They only have to stop any of our attempt to patch the hole. Still, even if they tried, they probably wouldn't succeed, no?"

"Be careful, you are gambling with my sister as the bet," Tatsuya grounded his molar lightly, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"Then take her off the bet. I don't really care." Lunaire lazily waved his hand dismissively at the two siblings and continued without pause. "And what do I mean by insurance? Their favorite tool seems to be tampering with CADs. I am sure that Tatsuya will sniff them out from miles away with his expertise with the device, so Miyuki-san is probably safe. As for Alice, even if Tatsuya failed and her CAD is busted in the middle of the competition, she can still fight with the stick she has regardless."

"There is no such thing as Onii-sama failing. I have complete confidence in him."

"He didn't seem to share that confidence. But this is a moot point, because Tatsuya-kun is not willing to go along with my charade anyway. Why do you fret?"

"What I can't stand is your insinuation that my brother is incompetent." The frost aura enveloped Miyuki creating a spectacle as if the snow fairy had descended. However, Lunaire didn't show any slightest indication of being intimidated and continued to deal with her as if she was a child throwing a tantrum.

"Incompetent? When did I ever say that?" Lunaire drummed the table lightly with his fingers.

"…"

"Besides, I found him quite admirable. He is willing to look out for his sister and has good grasp on his own capability. If he is confident, he says so and if he is not, he admits it honestly. Do you know how unsightly it is to see someone indulge in their own bravado? I have to honestly compliment him for being level-headed." Lunaire smiled toward Tatsuya, who remained stoic. Tatsuya didn't have capacity to feel strong emotion. However he could feel a degree of unpleasantness seeing someone biting off more than he could chew. Still, from another point of view, he stared slightly at Lunaire for hammering down on his sister like that. "Honestly, Miyuki-san, I do not know what bone you have to pick with me? What I am pulling is a risk, the one that your brother doesn't want to take. What you are essentially doing is pressuring him to be something more than he could be which is extremely selfish. You are forcing him to make a risky gamble, which he clearly doesn't want to, and the bet is you."

"I…"

"Alas, we do not have time to entertain you. If Tatsuya felt that gambling with his chance to protect his little sister is too risky, I will defer to his preference. You should feel happy that he cares more about you than his pride. No offense to you, Tatsuya-kun." The final nail in the coffin was contributed in a timely manner by Alice, who sighed exasperatingly.

"…None taken, I suppose." Tatsuya face was scrunched in thought, but didn't look particularly offended when he responded. He turned to pat his trembling sister in the head.

The awkwardness suffused the room. The temperature was a few degrees lower from the coldness released by Miyuki's unrestrained magic. However, this degree of coldness didn't faze the two magicians at the least. The display did unnerve other more susceptible people in the room. Probably calming down or realizing the meaning of the chastisement, her frosty expression was replaced by shame. Then someone coughed.

"I can see your point about how Tatsuya could help. But, without his support, whether he fails or Miyuki doesn't join in, you seemed to believe that Alice would be able to deal with anything sent her way. I wonder where your confidence is coming from." In an attempt to prevent any more escalation of Miyuki's temper, Suzune came to the rescue and diverted the center of the attention away.

"Magic, let's leave it at that." With the most mysterious smile he could muster, Lunaire gave his response.

"I found you unforthcoming interaction with us worrying. As the leader of this team, cannot send one of our students out into danger without having adequate knowledge about the safety net or the lack thereof." After a round of terribly exasperated sighs, the towering Katsuto placed his arms on the table and leaned forward. His brown eyes tried to bore into the prismatic blue eyes of his opposition, intending to probe more information.

"Then forget I say anything."

"What?" A sudden response elicited a small question from Mayumi and Mari duo. Suzune and Katsuto were stoic enough not to give any strong response, but the big man narrowed his eyes.

"It seems that taking a nap before this meeting proved to be a detriment. Bad, bad Lunaire, how could I sleep talk in the meeting like this." Chuckling and leaning back on his seat, Lunaire revealed no trace of tension from earlier conversation. He started berated himself as if he made an embarrassing blunder.

"…You have to be willing to meet us halfway. How can you expect us to trust you when you don't trust us?" Katsuto wondered how long would Lunaire keep up his charade as his patience was wearing thin. It was the first time in his life that people other than those in his family stonewalled him.

"There is in fact another option. We don't meet at all." A collective hitch in their breath followed the particularly challenging remark. "We are considerate enough to think of playing one of our cards for this petty competition." Alice emphasized the word petty to rub it in, feeling slightly vindictive against the towering man. "If you ask us to simply present our cards to you, forgive me, but forget it. I will only say that I am willing to take Watanabe-senpai's place. Whether you approve or not is your choice to consider."

"Then me too, I am willing to participate in official division." A thundering response came from the snow princess that seemed to regain her uncertain bearing.

"Miyuki-san…" Mayumi glanced at Tatsuya worriedly. Her mind wondered about what Lunaire said about the risk and the bet.

"Since my little sister is like this, I can only strive to meet her expectation and prove that her confidence is not unfounded." Tatsuya shrugged.

"Oh my, I am hurt Tatsuya-kun. Since when did you know how to quip back…?" Lunaire chuckled humorously. In his heart, he let out a separate evil laugh.

In the end, they presented themselves to his plan obediently anyway. Maybe Tatsuya realized a little, but he could do nothing against his little sister. The only thing he could only give up and admitted that he was played completely by Lunaire. It wasn't exactly an advance plan, just a subtle goading, but it worked wonders.

"The decision is now in your hands. Let's hear it." Not mucking about anymore, Lunaire waited for the final decision.

"I still don't agree with your approach. If you can't tell us your contingency, it is unfortunate that I can allow Alice to play." Katsuto met Lunaire squarely, believing that he caught on to his tail.

From the moves that Lunaire and Alice played, Katsuto deduced that the two wanted everything to go according to plan for reason he didn't know. They wanted both Alice and Miyuki to play, but wouldn't be too peeved if the later didn't. Katsuto was not willing to swallow so many consecutive defeats and would do anything to squeeze out at least some concession from the enigma that seemed to be greater than ever. The approach he chose was simple, baring Alice's entry.

"Sehr gut, Sehr gut, my leader, how very sharp of you?" Lunaire chuckled and laughed to which Katsuto could only grunt. "However, don't you think that it is quite impartial of you? You want to know about the safety net, why you don't ask that to all other competitors in our school. After all, they are potential target. Why don't you care about their safety and only fuss about Alice? We don't even know if these two will be hit?" Katsuto exhaled strongly as his face darkened. If he was going to use the excuse of safety to bare some contestant from entry, he couldn't just single out Alice. "It is all games and all, but it is over now. I am sure that they will be unexpected event happening in the next few days for sure. If you take Alice off, I believe that Alice is totally content. Just that, please do not regret that you didn't take as many points as you can get. That's all I will say."

And thus began the longest staring contest between the heir of Juumonji family and Lunaire Vivian Meister. Under the surprised stare of many, only Katsuto and Tatsuya were paying extreme attention. Both had good sense and tried to read as much from Alice and Lunaire, but to no avail. The silence lasted for a full two minutes with no one willing to break it.

"Hahaha, why are you all so serious? Can't a girl have her secret? Since they really want to know, why don't you enlighten them? That is, if you really wish to, Alice." Sensing that the opportunity is right, Lunaire uncharacteristically giggled, dispelling the tension that accumulated in the room.

"I will politely refuse," Alice neutral expression shifted toward a small smile. "I do not have the hobby of entertaining the prying eyes nor the boorish fellow who blatantly breached the etiquette of a magician."

Lunaire winced slightly in the safe confine of his mind. He had never seen such a vicious display of passive-aggressiveness from Alice before. Lunaire was British and he was still feeling it.

The implication was not lost between the occupants of the room. It is a severe offense to pry into the magic of another when the subject is unwilling. Even in the world of second rate magic using Psion, the power of information was amply recognized. The spells and techniques are the lifeblood of the magicians, but also their weaknesses. Just like a deck of cards from a trading game, just a glance at the opponent deck will reveal their possible strategies and of course the countermeasures against said strategies. To put it lightly, asking for the information on someone's magic are equivalent to asking directly for a blackmail material.

Katsuto grunted in his seat, swallowing down his agitation. Even an idiot child could understand that he was guilty of the charge laid against him. His argument hung on the premise that secrecy regarding Alice's magic was a safety risk. Only now did he realized that the trap was sprung. Was not the act of revealing her magic a risk to her well-being? He could not begin to think of a way out. A slight exertion of his influence was forgivable for the man in his position, but coupling it with taboo would make it something that even he could not laugh off.

Lunaire almost bit his lip in the attempt to suppress his smile. If he was to describe the confrontation in one word, it would be delightful. Perhaps, enlightenment came at the most unexpected of time. It was a this moment that he truly understood the essence of Chinese saying that "if you do not seek death, you won't die!" The loss accrued to Katsuto was heavy and Lunaire was greatly pleased at the fact that the man surely felt it clearly in his bone.

As a man in the position of leader, his image was paramount for how could he inspire respect in his men if he was a stick in the mud or an unscrupulous person. Alice's counterattack essentially threw dirt at leader's stellar reputation. Katsuto ground his teeth fruitlessly. Whether he push or pull back now, nothing would change.

Tatsuya watched the exchange in silence. His back tensed straighter as he observed intently. Evaluations of Lunaire and Alice were quickly elevated to an alarming state. Matching with their enigmatic grace and confidence in their conducts, they more than adequately demonstrated their ability as manipulator and that made his stomach turned. Everything were as they desired, all down to a tee. Any token of resistance was promptly used to their detriment. From the inner recess of his mind, their ruthless scheme chillingly reminded him of his one-and-only dear aunt. Without his repressed emotion, he would have shivered. Just how long did he let them be unchecked, Tatsuya mused. If not for their disturbed state of mind before the meeting and the aggressive maneuvers, could he have seen their manipulation? Just how many of their designs were achieved with him none the wiser.

Mayumi, on the other hand, looked down and scrunched her brows, racking her brain for anyway to save her friend. From her silence, she understood well the implication and if she were to haphazardly move, it would also drag her reputation into the gutter as well. It may sound heartless to abandon a friend, but nothing could be done even if she were to sacrifice herself in the fray.

"Lunaire, I believe that you mentioned that the plan is three-fold. A provocation that will guarantee our victory at little cost were mentioned. What is the last consideration?" Suzune resigned herself to serve as the bridge and salvage the situation.

"It is insignificant as of this moment. With chairman...just assertion, I am rather resigned to the fact that Alice will not have a slot to participate. Hmm...resigned would be too strong of a word as I am sure that both Alice and I felt no loss." Watching as Suzune's tense smile turned solemn, Lunaire relented. "But it would not hurt for all of you to know. Both Alice and Miyuki would demonstrate their threat easily enough in the next few days. Yet, I cannot guarantee with certainly that the little imp will bite the bait with only the heat from Miyuki alone. Two heavyweight, on the other hand, will make me question their intelligence if they did not try something. This is where you come in, Saegusa-senpai."

Mayumi straighten out with her eyes owlishly wide at the sudden mention of her names. Her tensed limbs and back made her seemed like a mannequin of sort, causing Alice to feel a little bit of sympathy for her. She hoped that the perky president would regain her cheer and not hold it against them later. After all, who would strain out all the interesting reaction from Lunaire if she was gone.

"Isn't this great, Saegusa-senpai? It is time for you to demonstrate the connection and influence of your family that you were quoting to me." Lunaire gave her a rather meaningful smirk, causing her lips to clam shut. "While I would rather ask the military intelligence to handle the matter, considering that someone was rampaging in their backyard, I am not convinced that Juumonji family will be willing to lend a hand. At least not without any concession we are not willing to give." Direct his smirk to Katsuto, he awaited the response.

"Such a juicy target will prompt a rather large response from the opposing party even if they know it is a trap. You aim to capitalize the moment when they overextended to attack," Suzune let a little bit of an understanding smile to grace her expression.

"Yes, Ichihara-senpai. We have demonstrated only our incompetence thoroughly to them in the past, so they will expect only token resistance for at least their next strike. It won't matter as they probably expect that strike to be the last. With my plan, I am certain it will be the last, but with different outcome." Lunaire exposed his most malevolent smile. "The vermin will be exterminated. But you are wrong at one point, senpai. I do not aim to stop the attack from happening, but use the opportunity to gather information for our counterattack to strike true."

"You speak as if you think we can find the culprit easily. Rather than a token of trust in our ability, I feel that the reason is something else...You know who were behind all these sabotages," Mayumi hesitated for a split second, but dropped the bomb anyway. All the while, her eyes searched deep into his prismatic pairs.

"Oh, we are continuing with our game, very well. I am abhorred by the delay in which you all take action. We have been attacked 3 times. I figured you all have already started working on the investigation between the first attack and now. Apparently, I might be wrong considering that we are still in the dark but I digress." Rhythmical drumming his figure, he continued. "The goal of the attack is simply to take our victory away from us." The utter confidence was radiated as if their victory was promised. "This disqualify this attack as an effort of other country. Why would they bother with children competition anyway? If they cause fatality, then this option simply is not probable. No, only an organization operating in this country is capable of infiltrating a competition as large as this. The suspects narrowed down to the ones involved with other magic high schools, someone wishing to discredit Ten Master Clans or gambler."

"We can rule out other magic high schools. They either have too much pride, strict oversight, simply insufficient influence or gall to do something overtly illegal." Mari who were silent until now noted, while nodded to herself.

"Exactly, even if there may be rabid alumni, they are too little to plan such an elaborate scheme. On to the next. Discrediting Ten Master Clans seemed like a possible motive as the children of two of the most powerful clans were in the fray. But then again, neither both of you nor someone under your direct protection were attacked. I assert that it would be hard to link the failure of preventing the attack to the leaders of First High in the eyes of public."

"The most likely culprit would be the gambler. It is all down to money." Tatsuya's eyes glittered dangerously, like a hound that finally found its prey that it was eagerly waiting for. The price of laying their hands on his beloved sister would be severe indeed.

"Couldn't say it better myself. Now, as to the specific question of which gambler, I will let you deal with that." Lunaire only laughed mirthfully and leaned back to take a good look at each of their faces. "Of course, if our leader would only permit our plan to proceed, that is?"

00000

What do you think about this chapter? This will be the prelude to the bomb that will go down after this. I took my time to consolidate my ideas on the plot line after this and found out that things will go explosive fast and hard (after Nine school competition).

Lunaire and Alice were particularly petty and vindictive this chapter. Who can blame them? Everyone is prone to being like that from time to time, especially if they did that to their valued friend.

I wonder what the other characters will think about this. Precisely, what will the Ten Master Clans members think? Another question is what will Tatsuya think about this?


	54. Chapter 54: Innovation

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

00000

The Fourth Day of Nine School Competition

Both of them were tired. While a single sleepless night was night insufficient for them to sport bags under their eyes, their eyes lost its usual gleam. Gone were the light smiles on their lips, replaced by deep frowns. Their mind chilled at the simple understanding that the meeting last night could very well ended with Marisa deciding to depart to Gensokyo.

The ordinary witch was anything but ordinary, regardless of what she insisted about herself. Rather than the gift of talents, she was blessed with unrelenting determination. Little in all creation could stand between her and her goal. Anyone may stop her for a time, but they never deter her from trying again. Marisa always comes back for more. Patchouli and her best security wards could attest to that. That was the reason that Lunaire was drenched in his sweat as he confronted her last night.

The meeting could have ended much worse. If Marisa decided to oppose their agenda with all her effort to bear, there was no telling how much damage she could do. In the case that Marisa was blindly convinced that she could not allow any sacrifice to be made for the safety of their bellowed paradise and tried to work against them…He could only tremble, not because she would be a large obstacle, but at the fact that he was prepared to kill her for a moment. Marisa could be dangerous given time, but considering the firepower he had at his tentative disposal, her death could be easily guaranteed. Without the limitation of spellcard rules, Aya, Remilia and her servants would be more than enough.

Just what was more important, his friends or Gensokyo, he questioned. He tried to convince himself that his friends and Gensokyo were one and the same, yet how could such an abhorrent thought surfaced even for a split second. His friend as a sacrifice for Gensokyo…Unthinkable, he ground his teeth and glared forward at nothingness. Stamping his feet, he resolved himself to never ever allow to weaken like that again. The world was not an idealistic utopia where everyone could be saved, but he had the strength to ensure that he would never have to sacrifice the people dear to him.

Any case, if Marisa refused to see reason, he would beat her to an inch of her life along with a sermon on her life. Finally, they would have tea in the end. Realizing this, he let a small smile grace his face. Only he knew of his hidden sin, but he was determined to make it up to her later somehow.

Unburdened with his guilt, Lunaire felt more refreshed than he had in days. Everything ended on a happy note. Marisa did not oppose them nor return to Gensokyo.

"You seemed to snap out of it." Lunaire shoulders jerked, not from the thought transmission but Alice's olive eyes stared searchingly into his soul.

"Alice, don't speak as if I am the one ridden with guilt," Lunaire swallowed his saliva and forcibly calmed down.

"But unlike me, you already recovered." Alice chuckled and straightened her posture.

"I just realized the ridiculousness of my thoughts."

"Mind sharing?" Lunaire had to admit that she was adorable when she spoke with such tone while tilting her head.

"I thought that if," Lunaire paused and swallowed his first words. It would not do to burden Alice with such a heavy topic. "A big if…if Marisa truly decided to return to Gensokyo, it might make our jobs much easier," he chuckled. "But then I realized that it was an idiotic line of thought that I was pursuing."

"…That is somehow both intriguing and horrible at the same time. Pray tell." For a split second, Alice's eyes were owlishly wide and then sparkled with slight interest. Her back was now ramrod straight as she turned to him, still not smiling demurely like the usual.

"To send Marisa back, we need to destabilize the Hakurei Barrier to create a temporary door at the expense of the spell's integrity. The act will shorten the time we have significantly, yet the boon can be tremendous. I don't have to tell you that you can both enter and exit a door."

"As we send Marisa back, you will also bring someone from Gensokyo out?" Her lips parted a little as the epiphany came over her.

"Eirin, Nitori and her Kappa friend, can you imagine how much progress we can make with their help? That is something to fantasize about." He continued as a charming mischievous smile graced his face. "Also I am totally going to firmly administer my fist to Yukari's face if she is responsible for this and then perhaps thank her for this opportunity."

"I can see what you mean…But it is still horrible to rejoice from this."

"That, I am truly sorry." With his head bent low, he uttered his apology. To that, Alice elbowed his side lightly for the mirth containing in his tone.

"Then again, it might even be worth it to reconnect to Gensokyo and call help, trading time for Yagokoro-sensei, Nitori and some others." At Alice's mention, it was Lunaire's turn to be the deer in the headlight.

"You were there when we calculated that we would only have 2 and some odd months left before barrier collapsing in on itself should we breach it, correct?" Lunaire rubbed his eyes and stared at Alice as if she grew another head.

"Most certainly," Alice gave Lunaire her best rendition of a Cheshire grin.

"You are a Lunatic…but I love that lunacy. Let's do it! Let's rock the world in two years!"

"We might be getting ahead of ourselves?"

"Alice? Lunaire? What happened, both of you are really silent this whole while." Seeing that the attention of the two foreigners shifted squarely to her, Erika fluttered her hand. "No, there is no weird meaning behind it. But if there is any problem that we can help with, I think we don't mind listening to it and see what we can do. Right, everyone?" The red head turned around to their friends on the other side with utmost confidence. Her trust in their loyalty was quite touching to the two magicians.

"Yeah, sure thing bud." The characteristic boisterousness surely belonged to Leo.

"I will do whatever I can. You have helped me many times before after all." Honoka raised her two little fists near her face. On a totally unrelated note, she looked both adorable and alluring with the way her chest compressed against her arms.

Miyuki, while still slightly retained her misgivings from last night, gave her support. Last night she was told that Lunaire played her like a fiddle, so she was slightly peeved, but here was not the place for that here. She would take her time to unravel the mystery, later.

"Your thoughts are more than enough, thank you. Maybe next time though." A genuine smile made their merry group of friend realized how much they missed it.

"Many thanks, consider that I owe you all a dinner after this competition then." Lunaire chuckled, but then taken aback when from the wide grin flashed toward him, courtesy of Erika.

"Ho, you better not forget."

"My friend, are you sure you can handle this glutton?" Leo, who seemed to not know what was good for him, poked the hornet nest.

"What do you say?!"

Scarlet Devil Mansion

The past few months were not so kind to Kirin. After her formal introduction to the organization, she was struck dumb with a simple realization. She didn't know anything at all. But rather than saying that the time she took to get her degree in CAD engineering was a waste, she was grateful as it was the key that allowed her to grasp this opportunity. Here, among rows and piles of books, hid the inexhaustible knowledge of the beyond. Laws of fantasy and wisdom of the uncommon were jammed packed into this wide repository known as the library.

The first few days were spent frustrated. Patchouli opted for the lady to take her time to grow accustomed to the new learning environment before the purple mage started to teach her personally. Darting from shelf to shelf, Kirin tried flipping through with excited glee. Much to her disappointment, some books contained a foreign language undecipherable to her and some were too much for her uninitiated mind to comprehend. At other times, when she picked up the book, Koakuma who was assigned as her guide simply squeezed the covers of the book tightly with her lithe hands. Shaking her head, the little devil would simply put the book back and gestured Kirin to move on. Such occasional gesture was enough for Kirin to understand that somethings in this library were not meant for her eyes, at least for now. As such, the first few days were not very productive, but they did accomplish in whetting up her appetite to learn.

After that, Patchouli spent many hours teaching her the ins and outs of magic, tailoring her course toward educating the new magic artificers. Kirin showed her interest in other practical magic, to which Patchouli occasionally indulged her. But the main focuses remained at making Kirin the best CAD maker the world had ever known through the combination of true and modern magic. While it pained her to twist and pervert the graceful arts known as true magic into whatever modern magic was, there was merit in such course of action.

Half-heartedness was a notion alien to Patchouli, so the total workload for the poor lady was almost double that of her time in college. If that was not enough, the lack of time for idleness made Patchouli assign a project for Kirin to chew on outside of class. If Patchouli saw Kirin blanch, she sure didn't say any word of encouragement after giving the task. Kirin's reaction was not out of the norm, considering what her teacher just assigned her, a rookie, the task of developing the first thought-interface CAD.

With the time, experience and resources available to her, Kirin had tiny doubt that she couldn't produce a result. However, she was neither trained nor experienced with the new resources, namely mana magic. Yet, she did not dare disappoint her impassive teacher.

At one point, she came forward with a proposal to sell her shop. This was easily shot down by Reisen who understood the meaning of having a store. Being devoted was one thing, but having to sacrifice the store that was Kirin's livelihood for years was a bit much. To rectify the problem, Reisen proposed a fund set up to hire in employees for Suzuya CAD store, specifically the engineer. Currently, Kirin hardly visited the store anymore, focusing her attention on learning and researching.

And now, after three months of sweat and issues, Kirin finally had something she could claim wholeheartedly as her own brainchild. The fourth day of Nine School Competition, Tatsuya unveiled the groundbreaking innovation for the integration of aiming assisting device into generalized CAD. A cutting-edge technological feat proved its worth on the final match of female speed shooting. Unheard by most however was the fact that Kirin completed a system that could easily rival Tatsuya's achievement on the very same day.

Perhaps Saturday of August 6th, 2095 was an auspicious day for innovation. On one of the worktables underground, the maple-haired woman stared hard through the magnifying lamp. Manipulating her screwdrivers, pliers and soldering metal, Kirin was assembling the final component into the device. If there was one word to describe the device in her hand, it was 'monstrosity'.

Looking back in time, the damn thing was a thought-input device that was meant to be commercially available. Created as a supplement to a keyboard, it was capable of interpreting both eye-movement and thought into the alphabet and clicking. With modern technology, such a device could easily usurp the place of the tried and true keyboard and mouse, but some people simply found it too cumbersome to use. Overall, it was a semi-useful piece of technology in the hand of those willing to learn.

With such convenient technology, it wasn't inconceivable that people thought of creating a thought-operated CAD with such a device as input. However, they soon found that the device was only an analogue of the keyboard and mouse, meaning only typing and clicking. Arguably, that was all that was needed for a CAD. If the operator used the device to type number 1, the CAD could be programed to call up the spell in the first slot. The conventional way of doing this was to access the spell list in the CAD through a touch screen, which actually required the operator to move their hands.

However, there were two major drawbacks to this method, hilariously simple ones at that. For normal users, they could not remember the number for each of the spells even to save their lives. In general-type CAD, there are a total of 99 spells and to remember all that with the corresponding number was a chore. There was an idea to actually let the user assign a name to their spell to aid in memorization. However, they now had to painstakingly spell each name out through the interface, hampering its usability. The current generation of thought-input devices also needed concentration, which could not be attained all the time in real life situations. The final nail in the coffin was the fact that simple radio jamming works wonder against such a device. And thus, the development process ceased. This situation was not expected to improve in the next few decades.

If one questioned why Kirin had tinkered or more accurately brutalized the input device into such sorry state, it was because of the shocking weakness of the organization. It was one case of the gap between expectation and reality. Kirin thought that the organization that could come up with marvelous technologies and magic would have a steady means of fabrication. She was horribly mistaken. If there was a silver lining, it was that they allowed her to order anything as necessary.

Still, she had no means to simply order a factory to fabricate her required part as no one would do so for such small order. Thus, she resigned herself to scavenging parts from various electronic goods, which mind you were semi cutting-edge.

"I guess the cover won't really work anymore now, will it?" Kirin sighed ruefully, thumbing the grey plastic cover for the input device. She opened and modified to inside so much that there was no hope for the cover to slide in place anymore.

The Eldritch abomination in her hand looked like an earpiece. However, attached to it were a myriad of cords and printed chips as if the whole thing came out of gothic cyborg science fiction movie props collection. However, the metal gray and greenish parts could not conceal a large purplish crystal. The rhombus-shaped gemstone clashed strongly with the rest, emitting a striking purple gleam on the surface.

Succubus Stone was the name of the mysterious gem. When Kirin thought out loud about reading the mind, Koakuma hurriedly offered her the idea and the reference material. On the side note, Kirin spent a few hours trying to clear up that she wasn't trying to catch her infidel boyfriend.

The Succubus Stone is a rather weak artifact, belonging to a branch of Witchcraft of Earth. Its production, while time-consuming, wasn't particularly taxing. The stone is commonly used to read the dreams of sleeping people. This stone has another desirable side effect of interpreting the surface stream of thought. Essentially, it is a mind reader. The rather terrifying implication, but the stone was only usable at point blank range and cannot pry into their memory when awake. As long as a person is not insulting another party mentally, all will end nicely.

This was a huge leap in development. There were two large problems, interpreting thought and converting it into electronic signals. The first was solved by the Succubus Stone. The second was answered by one book, written by a self-styled technomage. A Ventriloquist box was a device to interpret words encoded in mana waves. It was a toy, in all sense and meaning. A mage looking to perform a parlor trick can use mana waves to send a message to the box, which will then spew out the word. She just had to modify a few bits to output electronic signal instead.

There were a lot more of poor man's ingenuity at work. However, with the prototype completed, Kirin cared more about testing it. Quickly putting the unwieldy device on her ear, Kirin registered the slight tickle from the stone's power.

Thumbing the button on her CAD and attached radio receiver, she continually checked the readiness for the next few minutes. Of course, the redundancy was simply her way of alleviating stress. She inhaled, counted to four and exhaled, puffing up her asset in the process. She spun her chair to her right, facing toward another work table. Unlike her usual table that was cluttered, this table had a miniature parkour course. On one side, there was a single chess piece, a King.

'Alright, test combination 087,' Kirin though of herself bellowing the command, but squeezed her lips tight. The blue spiral of numbers was a sight of sore eyes, but Kirin didn't dare relax yet and diligently inputted all required variables for the magic.

The shiny lacquered wooden piece glowed from the magic circle beneath it and levitated. As if on a mission, the piece glide across the table and weaved its way elegantly through the parkour course. Unfortunately, Kirin was not in the position to admire as she was sweating heavily to execute the magic successfully. Her tension escaped when the piece finally landed outside the obstacle course.

As if the time stopped, she stared at the King piece. After a few moments, she kicked off her seat, sending her chair toppling with a thundering crash.

"I did it!" Kirin screamed to the high heaven as if to notify them of her achievement. "I finally did it! I did it!" She began jumping in an unladylike manner, repeating the same thing like a broken record. "The first thought-interface CAD, banzai!"

It should be noted that because her laboratory was underground, Kirin narrowly avoided a flying kick from Remilia. It was daytime and the vampire did not like her nap to be disturbed.

The polished version of the thought-interface CAD would be a few days away and even more time would be necessary before larger scale production could begin. But Kirin was more concerned about celebrating her victory at the moment. Thus, the unregistered line of thought-interface CAD accessories, the Heartfelt Engine was born.

00000

And there you go, another chapter.

On the same day that Tatsuya made history, his analogue made a silent contribution that is equally or more innovative. Still, this chapter also outlined one of the major disadvantages of Touhou side. They are doing very well in the supernatural field, but the moment they step into modern technology territory, they are newbies.


End file.
